And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel? And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father’s house… 1 Kings 18: 17 – 18.
There are occasions when a writer sets out to write one thing but ends up writing another. For me, this is one of such occasions! I have had many in the past, though! This time around, I set out to write on Kemi Badenoch’s differentiation between her being a Nigerian and her Yoruba ancestry. And the title I quickly scribbled down was “Which is higher: Ethnic identity or Nigerian nationality”?
The CEO of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa started it all when she disclosed that the newly-elected United Kingdom Conservative Party leader, Mrs. Kemi Badenoch, snubbed her when she made efforts to congratulate and identify with her on the landmark achievement of being the first black person (and, ostensibly, Nigerian) to be so elected. The floodgate of reactions that followed was varied: Some scolded Abike while others lambasted Kemi.
In response, Badenoch justified her action, saying she was not ready to do Nigeria’s PR; meaning, she did not want Nigeria to piggyback on her to white-wash its stained linen of a “fantastically corrupt” country, as a former British Prime Minister, David Cameron, had described her right to the face of former President Muhammadu Buhari, who was too dumb-founded and subdued to fight back.
Nigeria, being a country of one scandal, one week, everyone thought the matter had died down – thanks to the Dele Farotimi versus Chief Afe Babalola tango – until the vice-president, Kashim Shettima, chose to stir the hornets’ nest again as he lambasted the British Leader of Opposition for “denigrating” her Nigerian identity, sarcastically advising her to renounce her Nigerian name, Kemi!
At that point, the tango became high profile! It also became more interesting! But it was a most unwise thing for Shettima to have done! The spat from the Nigerian side should have been left at the lower level of Abike Dabiri. Jumping into the fray diminishes the person and office of the country’s Number Two citizen. Did Shettima consider the dignity of his office? Again, the question of what level of training in diplomatic etiquette our leaders get comes to the fore.
One such diplomatic gaffe that has refused to go away but appears to have snowballed into the splintering of the ECOWAS (and the collateral damage of the Lukarawa terrorist threat in Nigeria itself), was the hasty and scantily-considered decision taken on the coup leaders of Niger Republic. Don’t we have seasoned professional diplomats any more? Or is it that our leaders don’t listen to robust and informed advice?
Badenoch’s response to Shettima was more dangerous and damaging than the one she offered Abike Dabiri. She minced no words as she emphasized her preference for her Yoruba ancestry, adding, to boot, that she had no affinity with what she described as a North whacked by Islamism and Boko Haram ideology!
Mrs. Badenoch’s full names are Olukemi Olufunto Badenoch (nee Adegoke). She bears no “English” name. She is proudly and unapologetically Yoruba. She has no “Nigerian name” to renounce, if I may add. There are no Nigerian names, anyway, but there are English, Arabic, Yoruba, Igbo, Efik, Ijaw, Tiv, Igala, Hausa, etc names. Are there even Nigerians in the real sense of the word? I doubt if there are! What we have are people pretending, aping and/or hoping to be one! But there are Fulani, Hausa, Tiv, Idoma, Igbo, Yoruba, Ijaw, etc. – all cohabiting in the space or geographical expression called Nigeria – so named by the British colonialists.
In Libya in 1989 on the ticket of Pascal Bafyau’s NLC for the Organization of African Trade Union Unity (OATUU) conference, we met the leader of the Benin Republic delegation who was delighted to hear that we were “Yoruba from Nigeria” Immediately, the language barrier between him and those of us who were Yoruba evaporated. Benin Republic, colonized by the French, speaks French while Nigeria, colonized by the British, speaks English. The moment he asked us if we understood “Anago”, which is what the Yoruba in the French-speaking West African countries call Yoruba, and we replied in the affirmative, we began to flow in the Yoruba language! He was Yoruba from Benin Republic while we were Yoruba from Nigeria.
All across the West Coast where there is a large population of Yoruba (Anago) people, that is how it is! In Europe as well, I met people who never stepped a foot into Nigeria but who described themselves as “Yoruba” from Cuba or Brazil or Jamaica. If you think Yoruba are the only “Nigerians” with this tribal mentality or ethnic consciousness, you are wrong! It spreads across! That was why Buhari as military Head of State voted for a fellow Fulani man from another country at an international forum while snubbing his own fellow Nigerian (of Igbo extraction, if I remember correctly) vying for the same position!
There is no Nigerian in the real sense of the word! The Nigerian nationality remains, at best, a wish; a desire or mere wishful thinking. Efforts, if any, to mesh the various ethnic groups that inhabit the space called Nigeria into a nation have so far ended in calamitous failure.
Taking a cue from Buhari – and why not? – it will be unrealistic of Shettima to expect the average Yoruba person, proud of his or her Yoruba ancestry, just like Olukemi Olutoyin Badenoch (nee Adegoke) is proud of hers, to file behind the VP in his snide remarks about this illustrious daughter of Yoruba land. Take note that she is our daughter! And we shall make our stand with her in our millions!
Now to the point that I originally set out to make! When they think they have got rid – or been rid – of one Yoruba gadfly or “irritant” or the other and that Nigeria can now heave a sigh of relief, another pops up and rears its “ugly” head! Why have the Yoruba been “the main issue (not only) in Nigerian politics” (to quote the military dictator, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida’s definition of Awo) but also the benchmark against whom every detractor and competitor measures their performance?
Herbert Macaulay, a Yoruba man, was the doyen of the nationalist struggle. Obafemi Awolowo was the poster boy of the First Republic. The most radical Nigerian woman in history was Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti. The name that struck most fear in friends and foes alike during the Nigerian Civil War (1967 – 70) was “Black Scorpion” Benjamin Adekunle. The most patriotic, most selfless, and most self-sacrificing Nigerian military officer ever was Francis Adekunle Fajuyi, who chose to die with his boss, the then Head of State, JTU Aguiyi-Ironsi. The first black Nobel Laureate (in Literature), Prof. Wole Soyinka, is Yoruba! Remember, he was detained for years by the government of Yakubu Gowon over his principled and selfless sympathy for the Igbo (Biafra) during the civil war!
Now, when we come to the theatre of the radicals and “hot-heads”, the Yoruba also lead, beginning, again, with the same Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, who led the Egba women to chase the Alake of Egbaland out of his palace. What of her son, the irrepressible Fela Anikulapo-Kuti? Or his younger brother, Beko? Alao Aka-Bashorun was the first radical NBA president. What of Tunji Braithwaite and Kanmi Ishola-Osobu who followed in his footsteps? We can mention Tai Solarin. What of the stormy petrel himself, Chief Gani Fawehinmi? We can mention a string of NADECO leaders who fought the military to a standstill – Adekunle Ajasin, Abraham Adesanya, among others! And with the death of Gani, enters Femi Falana!
The only free and fair elections accepted as such by everyone was won by MKO Abiola, a Yoruba man. When Fulani herdsmen ran riot all over the country, the only governor daring enough to look them and President Buhari straight in the face was Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State. Where angels feared to tread; what Goodluck Jonathan and Buhari ran away from is what Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is tackling with uncommon courage and confidence.
Now, Dele Farotimi, the man who has volunteered that his head be used to crack the coconut of the malfeasance that we all know has enveloped the Nigerian state in its entirety, is Yoruba. The Yoruba stood up like one man and fought for the actualization of June 12. As if the raging Dele Farotimi tsunami was not enough, the Kemi Badenoch hurricane joined the fray!
What is in the DNA of the Yoruba that makes them selfless warriors for the common good, regardless of whose ox is gored and not minding the danger to self; making someone to ask: “Why are you people (the Yoruba) always the problem of Nigeria”? I can not claim to have the answer! Is it in the water that our ancestors drank and which has been passed on from generations unto generations? Or will the answer be found in ourQ “Omoluwabi” ethos? One thing is certain, though: Nigeria is not likely to enjoy respite until the troublers of the virtues and principles that the Yoruba hold dear cease their invidious activities!
I need help!
Are you wondering, what help? Yes, because it is very much unlike me. Sixty-eight-year-old Anthony Isidahomen suffers from a heart condition and needs to urgently undergo surgery. His entire family attended my parish before he relocated to the village. He functioned dutifully as an usher while his daughter till date is the Assistant Choir Leader. His wife was a dutiful motivator in the Good women group. This is very, very urgent. Kindly private chat me if you have a leading in this direction: 0803 251 0193, 0705 263 1058 (also WhatsApp).
Former Editor of PUNCH newspapers, Chairman of the Editorial Board and Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Bolawole writes the On the Lord’s Day column in the Sunday Tribune and the Treasurers column in the New Telegraph newspapers. He is also a public affairs analyst on radio and television. He can be reached on +234 807 552 5533 or by email: turnpotpot @gmail.com
