A Yoruba leader, Prof. Banji Akintoye has warned Southerners yearning to succeed President Buhari in 2023 to watch it because the president would prefer a northerner to succeed him. In this interview with TUNDE THOMAS, he described those calling him an impostor as critics who are jealous of his new position. While calling on his critics to bury the hatchet, and join hands with him to move Yoruba nation forward, Akintoye described his election as a good omen for Yoruba nation.
The issue of 2023 and who succeeds President Buhari has become a subject of intense national discourse as some groups in the North including Kaduna state governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai have not only called for scrapping of zoning but are also demanding the field should be thrown open while some Southerners are insisting that it is the turn of the South in 2023. What’s your take on the issue?
Those Southerners thinking that the North will relinquish power in 2023 are wasting their time. When Buhari completes his second term in 2023 he will not hand over to any Southerner. Any Southerner jostling for 2023 is wasting his time. Some of our people in the South thinking about 2023 should forget it; be it Igbo, Yoruba or any other ethnic group in the South. This is the bitter truth, and the earlier the Southerners wake up to this reality the better. The South should just forget it.
Why are you saying this? Do you have any priviledged information?
One doesn’t need a soothsayer to know where the pendulum will swing. It is obvious that the North is not ready to relinquish power. The present Federal Government has become a government of the Fulani, and you know Fulani love power, and they are not ready to surrender that power in 2023. This is one of the reasons why Governor el-Rufai, a thoroughbred Fulani has come out boldly to say that zoning or rotation should be scrapped in 2023.The Fulani have a hidden agenda on the issue of 2023.
As the saying goes, there is no smoke without fire, el-Rufai coming out to say that zoning should be jettisoned in 2023 is loaded with meaning. He is not speaking for himself only but what he and those other Northern groups are saying is the mind of the North as a group. You can’t trust these people. These Northerners are greedy. They are very greedy. If the South thinks it will have it easy in 2023, that will be an illusion. It is however left for the Southerners to determine their own fate. If they like ,let them continue to remain in servitude. As far as I’m concerned ,there is no basis for our co-existence with the North again. A word is enough for the wise.
But already some Southerners are reported to be warming up for 2023,and some names like Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo are being mentioned…..
Cuts in… They are all jokers. They are all wasting their time. Any Southerner preparing for 2023 will be disappointed. I don’t see the North handing over power to the South in 2023.
But will that not threaten the nation’s unity?
Where is the unity in the first place? We are strange bedfellows, the North and the South. Like I said earlier, there is no basis for unity between the North and the South again. In fact the amalgamation of the North and the South by Lord Lugard in 1914 was a big error. It was a big mistake. That amalgamation has become a curse on Nigeria. However for Lord Lugard, the amalgamation was not a mistake. It was to the benefit of our colonial masters because it benefitted them. But for the Southerners it brought us backwardness, especially the South-West. The South-West before the amalgamation had orderly system of government, and Yoruba were very advanced. Perhaps if our leaders then had known that the nation called Nigeria today would have been messed up like this they would have opposed the amalgamation. If the South-West had resisted amalgamation, we would have been a great nation today. We would have been very advanced. The North is dragging us backwards. Definitely we can’t continue like this.
How will you react to the declaration by Chief Ayo Adebanjo in a recent interview with the SATURDAY SUN that there is nothing wrong if Nigeria breaks up?
Of course, Adebanjo is saying the obvious. Nigeria is already close to breaking up. The economy is tottering, and in order to raise money by all means, the federal government has become desperate. Federal government has increased VAT by 7.2%. Businesses are closing down. There is gloom everywhere, and Nigerians have become despondent.
Some others are leaving Nigeria. The signs are ominous for Nigeria. What Adebanjo is saying is the obvious, and I’m happy that he has now become a realist. Before, Adebanjo was canvassing restructuring but it is now good that his eyes are now clear that the situation has gone beyond restructuring. Nigeria is now beyond redemption. It is sad that Nigeria has come to this sorry pass. This is not the Nigeria of the dreams of the founding fathers like late Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, and late Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello.
But can’t the situation be redeemed?
I insist that the situation in Nigeria today is beyond redemption, and it is left for the South to take its fate in its own hands. I know that some Southerners don’t want Nigeria to break up but Nigeria is already heading that way. I’m not a prophet of doom, but it is very clear to any discerning mind that it is just a matter of time before the unexpected happens. If it happens, it won’t shock or surprise me because I already see it coming. Although we don’t want Nigeria to die but Nigeria is dying already.
Some individuals and groups are already kicking against your emergence as Yoruba leader describing the election as being stage managed by unknown elements, what’s your reaction to that?
That’s to be expected, and I’m not bothered about those people saying that. We are in a civilized society, and those people are entitled to their views , and opinions. Some of these people also have interest or protecting the interests of somebody else. But the fact remains, I’m the new Yoruba leader, and I’ve accepted to serve my people. I appeal to these people to join hands with me. I know that in due course everything will be resolved. I’m not bothered by any attack or criticism. It is to be expected. I’m now father to all. I will soon embark on a tour of the South-West as part of efforts to reach out to everybody.
It was reported that you polled 75 votes to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s five votes, but some associates of Tinubu including Chief Henry Ajomale have declared that neither Tinubu nor any of his associates were present or aware of that election, and therefore you are an impostor. How do you react to this?
I was also not present at that election. It was after I was elected that I was informed. But after the message was passed to me, I had to think about it, I also consulted widely before I accepted. I’m not an impostor. I was duly elected by different Yoruba groups made up of eminent personalities, and I’m ready to serve. As for Ajomale ,and others opposing me, I’m not angry with them. As Yoruba leader, I’m now father to all.
With your new position, are you still a member of Afenifere?
Of course I still belong to Afenifere but my aim as the new Yoruba leader is to bring about unity among the two Afenifere factions. One thing that I discover that Afenifere needs to do is to be neutral. Afenifere should not be seen to be political or hobnobbing with any political party. I even suggested this in a 20-page memo I prepared for Afenifere on how to move the organization forward. We need a platform that will serve as an umbrella for all Yoruba irrespective of political affiliation. To achieve this objective, I have now established a platform called Yoruba National Congress. It will be an umbrella body for all Yoruba.