At the earliest commencement of this essay, it is stated that history repeats itself, first as tragedy and second as farce. This is immutable fact of history and man is helpless to learn the lessons of history hence the repetition not in an unchangeable form but in slightly vague and poor imitation hence the farcical nature or appearance.
But in its essential features, the reoccurring historical fact resembles the past event hence those witnessing it appear to recognise those essential features of the past event reoccurring as a resemblance of the historical fact. It is this immutable repetition of Nigerian history pertaining to Western Region and Nigeria between 1951 and 1966 and later 1979 and 1999 that this essay has been reviewing.
The 1951-1966 Awolowo’s struggles with Akintola his protégé and the 1978-1983 Awolowo’s struggle with Omoboriowo/Olunloyo/Akinjide/MKO Abiola that has resurfaced as a synthesis in 2007-2020.
Recall that in 1951-1966 Awolowo through Awoist ideology clumsily defined as “democratic socialism” based on federalism while ‘iselu’ as opposed to ‘ijelu’ did triumph in Western Region after the political subterfuge executed by British colonial authority to foist Awolowo over the Western Region as its tribal leader and to achieve this artifice they would have to decapitate Azikiwe’s national leadership of Nigeria which if allowed would have given him unquestionable political control over Nigeria at Independence.
Similar tactics was deployed in South Africa by the apartheid regime when they created tribal homelands with Mangosuthu Buthelezi and other Zulu kings as prospective prebendiaries but it failed as Mandela’s ANC held fast its forte as nationalist vanguard to liberate the country.
Between 1951 and 1964 when Awoism prevailed in Western Region before Tafawa Balewa and Sardauna of Sokoto, Ahmadu Bello helped Akintola to overthrow Awoism to foist Akintolaism, Awolowo had built a fairly well-organised political structure and organisation with identifiable political message which could pass for ideology. Nigeria’s troubles between 1966 and 1970 of which Awolowo was the prime victim and beneficiary entrenched him as the foremost leader in Yoruba land and moreso when he was so appointed in August 1967 as Yoruba Leader to lead the Yoruba in that troubled times.
Having served as General Yakubu Gowon’s Finance Minister and Vice Chairman of the Federal Military Government’s Federal Executive Council, he commanded national visibility that followed his acceptance of his subjugation and that of other Nigeria under the military revolution but that was the troubled season as he was subjected to war of attrition by members of the military clique that executed the 1966 July 29 coup and had controlling influence over Nigeria and it military government but he resigned his position to avoid being messed up like Brigadier-General Benjamin Adekunle.
But before being dealt with in that wise, he had used his position to deal fatal blow on the vanquished Biafra as he carried out federal military government economic and financial policies such as the sequestration of all mineral resources in Nigeria and warehousing same under federal control and the derivative principle was abolished.
The indigenization policies that benefited the victors of the Biafra War was executed and that effectively excluded the Igbo and Eastern minorities that reeling under the weight of Biafra defeat from commanding height of Nigerian political economy.
Having resigned in 1974, Awolowo and anticipating Gowon’s fulfillment of his promise to hand over power to civilians in 1976. Gowon’s promise did not come, so he patiently waited. Between 1975-1983, when General Murtala Mohammed overthrew Gowon and unfurled his political transition programme, Awolowo did not want the distraction of being bogged down with Federal Military Government tokenism when he was appointed Chairman of the Constitution Drafting Committee and so he rejected it.
Justice Udo Udoma replaced him. When the ban on politics was lifted Awolowo was the first to form a political party which was an offshoot of his Action Group. The party, United Party of Nigeria took control of Yoruba land and continued the same democraticsocialism and still mouthed the ‘iselu’ as opposed to ‘ijelu’ as the social praxis.
This Awoist ideology as noted earlier was just as it was not palatable to Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola who thought, especially after becoming Premier of Western Region that “democratic-socialism” was unnecessary imitation from Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah and unwarranted exclusion of Yoruba people from federal patronage system so also the regrouped Akintolaists who entered National Party of Nigeria controlled by Northern aristocratic leadership.
Using the NPN, the Akintolaists fought Awolowo viciously as Richard Akinjide, AMA Akinloye then joined by multimillionaire business mogul Chief MKO Abiola who used his Concord newspapers to devastating effect on Awolowo whom the Concord subjected to blistering attacks. But despite Awolowo’s political differences with Azikiwe he recognised the fact that he needed the Igbo, a major tribe
For the time being Akintolaism has triumphed over Awoism in Yoruba politics, but it is too early to predict the continuance, sustenance, effects and consequences
to get by in his avowed quest to dismantle autocracy and feudalism which Northern political establishment represented and which political fact Britain had bequeathed Nigeria as a neocolonial state.
Above all, despite Awolowo’s misgivings about Azikiwe’s politics he desired political alliance with the Igbo, Southern and Northern minorities in order to dismantle Northern aristocratic autocracy that Britain had carefully erected over Nigeria to facilitate its neocolonial agenda. Awolowo knew that without an understanding with the Igbo, dismantling Nigeria’s forces of autocracy and slavery will be impossible but Akintola thought otherwise.
Akintola hated the Igbo as a group not just Azikiwe and had openly canvassed alliance with the Hausa-Fulani oligarchy whose socio-cultural and political mores he preferred pointing to Hausa-Fulani’s emirate system which he equated to Yoruba kingship system with its hierarchical leadership and social grading.
As Premier of Western Region, Akintola defied his leader, Awolowo to work against AG’s ‘democratic-socialism’ and the ‘iselu’ norm of politics for Akintola had argued that not joining Balewa government then was hurting the economic interests of Yoruba businessmen and politicians. So he walked across the political divide to embrace Balewa and Sardauna’s Northern People’s Congress which eventually led to Western Region crisis. Akintola joined NPC to form Nigeria National Alliance.
This politics of the end justifying the means is the current ruling idea prevailing in Yoruba land nay Nigeria but Awoists and liberal democrats are resisting this Akintolaist political tendency. Just before the 2023 general elections there was a trending video of alleged conversation between two leading politicians, one a Northerner and the other a Yoruba proposing alliance between Yoruba and North to exclude and punish the Igbo.
And before and immediately after the 2023 general elections, Lagos APC leaders and partisans have made profiling and ethnic baiting of the Igbo their major preoccupations. As said at the begining of the essay, history is cyclical and it keeps repeating itself first as a tragedy and later as farce. Akintolaism, which translates to politics of the end justifying the means and it is as amoral as it is oligarchic.
This Akintolaism has triumphed over Awoism and it has wittingly received the approval of many in Yoruba land even as the shrill voice of reason of the Awoists keep on lacerating the conscience of all just men of goodwill that believe that Yoruba land is too democratic and egalitarian to succumb to “emilokan’ feudal and prebendal politics. For the time being Akintolaism has triumphed over Awoism in Yoruba politics but it is too early to predict the continuance, sustenance, effects and consequences.