Redeeming the Yoruba identity (3)

The role of the Yoruba nation in the sustenance of the Nigerian project

By Osa Amadi

Editor’s Note: After tracing the roots of the Yorubas to the middle East, the lecturer in this edition, evaluates the contribution of his kit and kins to Nigeria, arguing that the Yoruba nation is chief amongst the reasons for both the actualisation of Nigeria’s independence and its continued existence. Do you agree? Well, you have to first read his dialectics: Editor’s Note: After tracing the roots of the Yorubas to the middle East, the lecturer in this edition, evaluates the contribution of his kit and kins to Nigeria, arguing that the Yoruba nation is chief amongst the reasons for both the actualisation of Nigeria’s independence and its continued existence. Do you agree? Well, you have to first read his dialectics:

It is imperative to ask at this point what the Nigerian project really is. Is it a documented smorgasbord of events to bolster campaigns and politicking or a commingling of activities and benchmarks that will help for the realization of set goals and objectives, subject to repeated overhauls on the assumption of office of new administrations or perhaps merely a devised subterfuge of the elite to keep the common man believing? In my expansive research into this coinage, no singular document reflected, in clear terms, what the Nigerian project is, but I could see in turfs and clusters, the apparent rue, laced with tinges of optimism, left on the tongues of virtuoso writers and analysts as they explored the Nigerian project.

In dipping their hands into the pockets of history, said writers and analysts attempt a candid examination of present circumstances and make an effort to portend what is to come if this fifty six year old child is to sustain itself.In appraising the concept of the Nigerian project, an appropriate place to start from, as suggested above, is to consider whether there is even any such thing as that coinage. What does it mean? From where are its roots planted? What are its constituents? Who are its advocates? How can it be attained? In the literal sense, the word, ‘project’ means “an individual or collaborative enterprise that is carefully planned to achieve a particular aim”. Permit me to accentuate the key words and phrases in this very apt definition – ‘collaborative enterprise’, ‘carefully planned’ and ‘particular aim’. These, to me, are must-have vital characteristics of any ‘national project’ worth ‘its salt’.

A ‘national project’ must be a strategically and systematically planned outcome of a collaborative process which must be focused at archieving clearly defined objectives. The clichéd ‘American Dream’, which is anchored on the American Declaration of Independence of 1776, is instructive as to how an ideal ‘national project’ should be. In making the Declaration, which was later re-christened by historian, James Truslow, as ‘The American Dream’ in his book, ‘Epic of America’, representatives from the founding thirteen colonies which originally made up the United States met in Philadelphia and in the evergreen, ever-relevant and ever-stimulating words of Declaration, framed their nation’s guiding principles, stated the reason for their togetherness, clarified the objectives of their Union and expressed, albeit in general context, how they seek to attain their national aims.

The Declaration of Independence reads in part:“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights; that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to ensure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, – that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes…”

The above words are at the very foundation of the American nation. But what is at the root of the construct called ‘Nigeria’? The desire of a foreign empire to enlarge its coast and procure for itself a source of raw materials to power its burgeoning industrial revolution in the 1800s. The forced signing of the Lagos Treaty of Cession of 1862, despite the 11-day bravery of King Dosunmu. The subsequent incursion of the invading colonial army from the western hemisphere to the northern region. Flora Shaw’s brainwave leading to the coinage of the name ‘Nigeria’ from the words ‘Niger’ and Area’ in 1897.The declaration of the protectorates of the North and South in 1900. Lugard’s ill-considered amalgamation of the Southern and Northern protectorates in 1914.

And, the deliberate divide-and-rule policy of the colonial government all through the period of its governance of the country. Suffice”to say that although the 1914 merger was not well thought out, the deliberate division fostered by the colonial government bred a country with regions steeped in mutual suspicion and animosity. We might have been brought together in 1914, but togetherness in the actual sense has been elusive from 1914 till date. It eluded us in 1953 when Chief Anthony Enahoro, on the floor of the then Federal House of Representative in Lagos, moved the motion for self-rule; it eluded us in 1957, when Southern Nigeria came under self-government leaving the north behind; it eluded us in 1965, when the first and second coup d’ etats were prosecuted on a tribal scale; it eluded us in 1967, when our brothers in the East decided to take their fate in their hands and cut the colonial cosmetically created umbilical cord with the rest of the country, and same persists, perhaps even  more prevalently today, as the shouts of discord, cries of disaffection and beats of dissonance, resonate and reverberate across the four cardinal points of the Nigerian geographical expanse.

It is, therefore, not surprising that we have been unable, as a country, to come together and collaborate in forging a  common cause. However, our inability to articulate a  unifying goal was not for lack of trying, and some might even argue that if not for the attempts made over the years to keep this union together, it would have long disintegrated, with each region answering the ‘to your tent O’ Israel’ call. I am convinced, and history attests to my conviction, that chief amongst the reasons for both the actualisation of independence of the Nigerian state and its continued existence, is the Yoruba Nation.

From the readiness of  the first lawyer in  Nigeria, Sapara Williams, to fight the cause of any Nigerian regardless of tribe or gender, to the exploits of  Olayinka Herbert Macaulay as the head of the vanguard in the fight against colonial rule; from Chief Awolowo’s people centric agenda which set a developmental benchmark for every other region in the country, to the unparalleled bravery of Lt. Colonel Adekunle Fajuyi who was ready to rather die than for General Aguiyi Ironsi to be killed in his house; we have shown that we are the bond of the Nigerian  State. I have my serious doubts if Nigeria, as we have it today could have survived the Nigerian Civil War without the heroic and gallant efforts of the Yoruba soldiers within the Nigerian Army.

I can safely posit that Nigeria would not have been, and Nigeria cannot be Nigeria, properly so called, without the Yoruba Nation. We cannot attempt to speak about Nigeria, without  speaking of Herbert Macaulay, frontline  nationalist, a bundle of erudition and the grandson of the renowned Bishop Ajayi Crowther. Sir Macaulay, born on Broad Street, Lagos on November 14, 1864, had grown up as every other young man, remarkable and intelligent. He was so diligent in his duties that he was awarded a colonial government scholarship in 1890 for further studies in England in civil engineering and surveying, a first of its kind in those days. This scholarship though, did not foist a blindfold on him to the ills of the British government.

Apparently, there has always been dissatisfaction with mediocre leadership and  jaundiced management of the country’s state of affairs among the Yorubas. This characteristic, no doubt, could be found in the heartbeat of Herbert and flowed steadily in his veins. Sir Macaulay fought oppression and wrongdoing even on the soil of those against whom he stood. His 1921 trip to London where he denounced the British usurpation of  Eleko’s powers was one of such bold moves. His audacious move of establishing the first Nigerian political party, NNDP (which became a political force and thorn in the flesh of the oppressive foreign government) evinced in no mean manner his undivided commitment to ultimately untying the Nigerian State from the apron strings of the Colonialists. It then suffices to say that although Lagos was Sir Macaulay’s immediate focus, he extended the same zeal in advancing the cause of the entire nation.

In the words of Ambassador Dapo Fafowora and Deputy Permanent Representative of Nigeria at the United Nations, ‘ … Herbert Macaulay committed and dedicated his entire life to the struggle for the defence of the political and economic rights of the masses in Lagos. He fought courageously and relentlessly against the injustice and repression of the people by British colonial rule in Lagos and Nigeria. 1t is worth noting that Herbert Macaulay forged an alliance with Nnamdi Azikiwe to establish the first political party with a relative national appeal in the country.

This is contrary to the much touted notion in some quarters that Herbert Macaulay and most of the Yorubas were ethno-nationalists, promoting ethic sovereignty and unity over and above that of the country.” There can be nothing further from the truth as Sir Macaulay fought for Nigerian nationalism because he saw the necessity for the people living in the British colony of Nigeria of multiple backgrounds to unite as one people in order to be able to resist colonialism.” Beyond Sir Macaulay, there were others- Obafemi Awolowo, the arrowhead and immortalised hero of the Yoruba nation who gave himself wholly, not just for the west but for the entirety of the country; Chief MKO Abiola, the man who came closest to demystifying the division amongst the various regions of the country and ‘built bridges’ across board, such that he was massively supported and voted for, in every part of the country.

Wole Soyinka, the only Nobel  laureate of Nigerian extraction who courageously fought militarism, despotism and dictatorship in Nigeria; Augustus Tai Solarin, a social critic, writer and educator; Gani Fawehinmi a lawyer of the masses who fought for a sustaining democracy and good governance and a host of others who, not betraying the Yoruba traditional commitment to nationalism were/are knights of the cause of this country, infantrymen in the fight for its independenceand harbingers of a sustained democracy.

I will also not fail to mention Olabisi Onabanjo, Lateef Jakande, Ayo Adebanjo, Michael Omisade, General Akin Akinrinade, Dr. Amos Akangba, Chief Abraham Adesanya of blessed memory, late Chief Gani Fawenhimi, late Chief Sola Ige, Pa Olaniwun Ajayi, and of course the indefatigable celebrator, Chief Olusegun Osoba. All of these Yoruba true born sons and daughters did not deny their nationalistic mettle. Yoruba leaders of thought have, over the years, mastered the art of balancing the specific interest of the region side-by-side the broader interest of the country.

This explains how patriots like Herbert Macaulay and Obafemi Awolowo could represent the Yoruba interest while simultaneously advancing the Nigerian cause. Our contributions to the sustenance and survival of Nigeria are almost unrivalled; and the above examples are just few of the sacrifices we have made °and continue to make. Our readiness to continually work for the unity and progress of this political gesticulation called Nigeria, regardless our dissatisfactionsand misgivings,was demonstrated by the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, who even after his release from incarceration, rather than lament, vituperate or be vindictive, re-dedicated and re-committed himself to Nigeria thus: “As far as I am concerned, it is to the future- a future which we can make great and glorious by our united action, and invincible benevolence towards one another – that I have dedicated the rest of my life.

Under no circumstances will I be drawn into any sterile recriminations about the past which, in any case is gone, irretrievableand irremedlable’C’Todav’s celebrator confirmed how much  the Yorubas were/are ready to sacrifice either as individuals and as a people, when in response to a question on his position against the third term agenda during an interview granted to ThisDay Newspaper he enthused: “We worked hard to ensure the third term did not succeed, not because we hated Obasanjo but because we loved the survival of this country. We are the sacrificial lamb for  the second term”.

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