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Is It Ladoja Or Akala? Quo Vadis? By Dr. Wunmi Akintide
I am ashamed that the old wild, wild West remains the right cliche to
describe my own part of Nigeria. The January 15 Coup that became the
mother of all coups in our country could be traced back to the breakdown
of Law and order in the old Western Region under the Ladoke Akintola
faction and the Alhaji Adegbenro faction, but in the end, it was the
Ladoke Akintola faction that temporarily had the upper hand because the
then Federal Government under Tafawa Balewa had sided with Akintola after
getting its marching orders from Sardauna Bello as Leader of the then
Northern People Congress which had been in a short-lived alliance with the
then Democratic Party also known as "Demo" in the same West led by Samuel
Ladoke Akintola. The same scenario is now being replayed, one more time
too many, in the same Ibadan of all places again!
Ladoja becomes the then Dauda Adegbenro and Adebayo Akala is playing
exactly the same role as Ladoke Akintola from the same Ogbomosho town. For
some time, in those days, it wasn't clear like now, who the legitimate
Premier was. The Court is saying that Ladoja remains the legitimate
Governor of Oyo State, in as much as the provisions of the Constitution
have not been followed in impeaching him, But Akala is saying very much
the same thing that Ladoke Akintola had said when faced with the same kind
of situation. "A ti t'oje bowo Baba Olosa, o ku Baba eni ti o bo" meaning
I have already been sworn in as Premier of the West, I cannot think of
anyone who will dare remove me. I similarly recall a past President of the
Nigerian Senate, Joseph Wayas of NPN, advising the UPN leader and its
followers in a television interview, to forget their complaints that the
1979 Elections might have been rigged in favor of the NPN and to just move
on. He simply broke into a few words of Yoruba that he knew how to speak,
saying on camera, "O ti tan." It is finished. The elections are over, and
NPN has been elected. Let anybody who didn't like the result go jump into
the Ocean.
Akala is saying much the same thing today. It does not matter to him, if
the Court is saying he has not been legally and properly elected Governor,
because the people who impeached Ladoja had not followed the Nigerian
Constitution, the supreme Law in our country. Akala is letting it be known
that the Constitution is only a piece of paper which is not worth the
paper on which it is written. What matters is what the current President
and Adedibu, the garrison commander at Ibadan says, to borrow a cliche
from Ahmadu Ali, the Chairman of the PDP. There is nothing like the Rule
of Law in Nigeria.
If Akalamagbo were an ordinary illiterate like Ariyibi Adedibu, I would
not be concerned at all. But the man talking is the current Deputy
Governor of Oyo State and a retired Assistant Commissioner of Police in
our country. Haba!
I can now see the point that Wole Soyinka, the sole conscience of our
Nation has been saying that the issue is now beyond Ladoja and whether or
not he deserves to be given a fair shake. And to think that our current
President who might well have been serving as the Secretary to the United
Nations today, had he not been ambushed or let down by the Babangida
Government, makes me want to throw up. Nigeria is riding on the back of a
tiger right now and the country might, in the fullness of time, end up in
the stomach of that tiger if care is not taken. I think we are in trouble
now. I cannot, for the life of me, understand how a man so committed to
fighting Corruption, and putting our Nation's Economy on the right
footing, can afford to jeopardize all his great legacies of achievement in
Nigeria by acting so crudely at this point. Even though Obasanjo is being
credited and praised for putting in place men and women like Nuhu Ribadu
and Alhaji El Rufai and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Mrs Akinyuli to mention a
few, how for God's sake can he afford to behave as if the Rule of Law
means nothing to him at all? This Obasanjo is a bundle of contradictions.
He looks like a man determined to salvage our country by all means. He
also looks like somebody out to rubbish our country, and more so the good
and relatively civilized people that his presidency represents. Sometimes
I am totally ashamed and embarrassed to identify with this man as a Yoruba
man. I could have sworn he was smarter than that.
Nuhu Ribadu has been spitting fire lately saying things that not even
Obasanjo himself could have mustered the courage to say as President. Nuhu
is taking on IBB, Sani Abacha and the likes of Abubakar who took over from
Abacha. He, Ribadu, is telling the nation these individuals are the Alfa
and omega and the "fons et origo" of Corruption in our country which is
correct. The question is not when IBB would be brought down on his knees
to explain all of his ill-gotten gains, the question is how soon. And the
only authority Nuhu keeps citing in his indictment of these leaders is the
Rule of Law which the man who appointed him does not appear to fully
respect, from all we are now beginning to see.
I see a big conflict of interest in the goal and mission of Nuhu Ribadu
and Obasanjo at some point in time. I could say the same thing of El Rufai
and Okonjo-Iweala and Mrs. Aknyuli talk less of Soludo the current
Governor of Central Bank, all of whom have all come from backgrounds where
the Rule of Law is the only thing they have had going for them. If the
institution called the World Bank where Okonjo-Iweala used to work, and
where she has built all her great reputation to qualify her for being
named the Nigeria Minister of Finance, does not respect the Rule of Law,
where do we go from there becomes the legitimate question to ask.
I dare say we don't have any democracy, if we don't have a Rule of Law
because Democracy thrives on the principle of Law. The victim is Ladoja
today, it could be you or me tomorrow. That is the point that Wole Soyinka
is shouting his voice stiff to put across to all Nigerians. Last time, it
was Chief Bola Ige our Chief Law Enforcement Officer and Attorney-General
that was cut down by bullets in the comfort of his own bed room. Up till
now, his assassins had not been tracked down. Poor Sadatu, the wife of
former Governor Rimi and a chieftain of the PDP had been slaughtered like
a goat in Kano, in an assassination presumably meant for her husband who
was only lucky not to be home by the time the hoodlums came calling. What
a country?
Pa Alfred Rewane, Dele Giwa, Mrs. Abiola, Abiola himself and so many other
Nigerians have similarly been put to death in our march to Democracy in
our country. The Nigerian Police who should all be law enforcers under
Ehindero are now saying they take their orders from only one Nigerian, and
if that Nigerian's views happen to run counter to what the Law says, they
would rather go along with what the President says regardless. I think we
are really in trouble now. If the Judiciary, as the last hope of the
common man, would not be allowed to play her own role without let or
hindrance, forget it. The nation is all but dead, and we should all be
mourning.
We must all thank God for the likes of Wole Soyinka and Oshimole and Gani
Fawehinmi, Musa Balarabe, Nuhu Ribadu, El Rufai, Colonel Umar, Ken
Sarowiwa, Jaspar Adakar Boro, Tai Solarin, Dele Giwa, and all those
Freedom Fighters who have sacrificed their lives so we could enjoy the
little freedom we have today.
Wole Soyinka is already over 70. He may not be around much longer after
turning 80 or more, if he survives that long. I just wonder what is going
to happen to our country when people like him are now increasingly in
short supply. Here was a man who as a young man in the early 60s had found
his way to the studio of the old WNBS, at great risk to his life, to make
a broadcast to the Nation repudiating what the then Akintola Government
was doing to hoodwink the people! That was long before he ever received
the Nobel Peace Award for Literature thus becoming a one man Battalion to
speak for the oppressed and the downtrodden of our country around the
world.
He had done it when it was unpopular to speak against the pogrom unleashed
against the Ibos during the Biafran Wars. He was one of the few Nigerian
lions to openly challenge the Federal Government and to side with the
helpless Biafran cattle fodder. He had done it when the Balewa Government
had attempted to sign a military pact with the British Government in those
days to subjugate Nigerians. This enigma called Wole Soyinka has always
been there for our country. He is doing it again and the whole nation
ought to rally round him. He is a visiting Professor to so many
Universities across the globe including Harvard, Berkeley and Emory. He
really had no business living in Nigeria, and working day and night to
champion our courses. He has recently moved his Headquarters to Ibadan
where he is hoping to fight this "Akalamagbo ti ki npodun je" to a
standstill in the interest of all of us, with apology to Ewi Maestro
Adekoga.
I can tell you that this Akalamagbo is going to "podunje" at Ibadan, and
be shown out the door as the legitimate Governor of Oyo reclaims his
throne until he is impeached the correct way, if that is what Adedibu and
his cohort the President of Nigeria must have.
All we are saying, is do it the right way, and do not create a precedent
that could be cited in the foreseeable future. I do not know Ladoja from
Adam, and I don't have to know him, before I stand up for him, because the
issue at stake is certainly beyond him. Granting immunity against
prosecution to legitimately elected President and Governors is obnoxious,
for sure, but it is currently the Law of our Land that needs to be
changed, but it is still the Law. All we are saying is follow the
Constitution to the letter. Period. All it needs for evil to triumph is
for good people to see evil and keep quiet or look the other way. We would
not do that. I am all for Wole Soyinka. This President either obeys the
Law or he should start singing his "Nunc Dimitis" in the overall interest
of our Country.
I rest my case.
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