The leader of a faction of the Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, Oba Oladipo Olaitan, speaks to DANIEL AYANTOYE on why the group is against President Bola Tinubu’s administration
You recently called for the impeachment of President Bola Tinubu over the Lagos-Calabar coastal road project. Why?
I don’t know how many Nigerians listened to Mr President when he was commissioning the road. He said he wanted to congratulate his partner, referring to Chagoury, the contractor who is handling the project. I almost fainted when I heard it. So, the President admitted openly that he is the one building the project. This is the coastal road that was never advertised for open bidding, they just awarded it, and nobody is saying anything except Afenifere. I don’t understand why Nigerians are keeping quiet. Where is it done? That is a conflict of interest. If we had a vibrant National Assembly, that alone would be enough to get this man out of office. But who will talk? It is only Afenifere that will continue to talk; and we shall continue to talk.
You also described Tinubu’s performance as a woeful failure. What specific action informed your assessment?
The situation of the country informed our assessment. We are all going through it and it is obvious. There is insecurity in the land and nothing is working. The electricity bill has gone up, and inflation is skyrocketing. If you leave the house, you are not sure whether you will come back in one piece. When campaigning, Tinubu told you that ‘if after my first term you don’t have 24-hour electricity, don’t vote for me.’ Now we know what it is — lies, and propaganda. Tell me what aspect of life you consider okay now. None. It is not Afenifere’s verdict; it is the verdict of 99 per cent of Nigerians.
How did you arrive at the 99 percentage?
Ask anybody on the street whether this government is performing or not, the answer will be no. Ordinarily, Tinubu is a fantastic human being, but he just does not know the act of governance.
You have also accused the administration of relying heavily on propaganda and promoting false narratives of success. Do you have facts to buttress your claim?
If you paid your electricity bill before the Tinubu’s administration, you should know how much you are paying now. Before this perilous government, I bought a brand-new Jeep for N15m, but now that same Jeep is N250m. Who among the average and honest working Nigerian can buy a car today? No honest civil servant can buy a brand-new car in Nigeria now; it is not possible. Where are we going? You know how much we were paying as house rent before they came, and how much we are paying now. The current situation is that you have no house to live, no car to take you around, no job, and you can’t feed. So, what exactly is left? A government that cannot provide three-square meals a day — what type of government is that? They said they have increased the minimum wage to an amount that cannot feed you for a week. Take N77,000 to the market and see the little things you will get. They only look after themselves, not the populace. They can buy special flying jets, Cadillacs, motorcars, flying ships, and all sorts, but the common man has nothing. They said they provided transportation means by way of CNG. Where are they? Have you seen any? It’s unfortunate.
You’re sounding more like the former leader of Afenifere, the late Pa Ayo Adebanjo, in your criticism of the Tinubu administration. Is this a pattern?
I was the deputy leader to Adebanjo, so we are one and the same. He warned us against this government; crying from the rooftops. He predicted what is happening now. This is misgovernance. I say the devils have taken over. They don’t care for anyone. As long as they are comfortable, to hell with any other person. A government that will proudly showcase building 20,000 housing units in a year in a population of 250 million — what type of government is that? When one of their friends (Emefiele) singlehandedly built over 730 housing units, and the whole of Nigeria under our dear President wants to build just 20,000 in a year. What a joke! They are taking us for a ride.
You’ve spoken about wasteful government spending. What concrete examples or data can you provide to support this position?
There is a new one coming up now, and it is completely novel. We have never seen anything like this before. The Department of State Services, a security unit of this country, is building Islamic study houses in the name of the President, in a secular country. Where are we going? Nigerians must wake up. This is not a joke. They are taking us for a ride. If we don’t shout out, only God knows what is left up their sleeves. They don’t care about you.
But despite the challenges, the APC is already preparing for the 2027 election amid defection of opposition leaders. What can you say to that?
They are testing the waters. They are seeing now how much we can take. They are talking about a one-party system, but it has only been a one-party system all along. It is just that they are now showing it in its true colour. I was in the National Assembly when the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission was created, and I remember the then-President Obasanjo called the leadership of the House to brief us about his intention to create the EFCC. Some of us said we hoped it wouldn’t be used for witch-hunting. He said no — but didn’t he use it as a tool then? Didn’t Obasanjo attempt to contest for third term, and send the EFCC after those who opposed his ambition? That’s what is happening now. All the people defecting are not doing so out of their will. It is just that they don’t want to go to jail.
Are you saying the ruling party and President Tinubu are threatening those defecting with EFCC, and that is why they are joining the party?
That’s what is happening. He is using antigraft agencies. Once you have something in your cupboard, which they all have, all they do is just show you the red card: “You have stolen so much; the EFCC is coming after you.” What do you do? You immediately go to them. One of their former chairmen, (Adams) Oshiomhole, once said on national television, “Come to APC and your sins will be forgiven.” We thought it was a joke, but now they are showing it to our faces. They don’t want to go to jail, so they defect. I don’t want to mention names, but there are Nigerians who were about to be taken to court by the EFCC, and they immediately joined the APC. Thereafter, nothing is said about it anymore. Now, they are not afraid to hide it. They are saying it to your face. Imagine a governor who is a pastor in Akwa Ibom (Umo Eno), saying, “I am now going to APC, and all the commissioners, everybody under me, you must go to APC, otherwise resign.” He is saying that in a country, and he is still sitting in his office without anybody talking. You know what’s happening? It is a deliberate weaponisation of hunger. They completely dehumanise you, take everything dignifying around you, and then throw you around. A man wakes up in the morning; the children and wife ask him for money, but he can’t give them, and he can’t pay his rent. Then they say, “If you join our party, all this will go away.” What do you think he will do? He (Tinubu) has perfected it. He did it in Lagos when he was governor. How can a man publicly admit that after spending eight years as governor of a state, he has been installing every other governor in that state for about 20 years, and nobody is talking? Have you ever heard of that in any part of the world?
How is it possible for a man to be installing governors for that long?
It is simple. When he knows you can talk, he will find a way to make sure you can’t talk again. There are various ways. If you have a business, he kills the business. I know people in Lagos facing this issue. Whey they identify that you are not one of them, your road is never tarred, and nothing comes to that area. I know prominent Nigerians today who are just barely keeping quiet because they don’t want to be destroyed. They have seen it done to people and don’t want it to happen to them. He has now taken it to national level. These people are defecting not because they want to defect, but because they want to save their souls. Otherwise, they will go to jail.
You said the ‘Renewed Hope Agenda’ has turned to a nightmare for Nigerians. In response, the President’s special adviser, accused your group of speaking opposition views because of your political alignment in the 2023 elections. How do you respond to this?
Does he want us to be like them? Does he want us to start echoing what is wrong? Yes, we are opposition to them. We don’t believe in what they are doing. What’s wrong with that? If it goes on like this, in 2027, we will work assiduously against Tinubu. There is no pretence about that. If he does not restructure this country, we will stand up as firmly as we can against his government. Is it wrong to be in opposition? I understand Pat Utomi wanted to establish a shadow cabinet, and I heard them saying he would be arrested. Arrest him for what? In Afenifere that I lead, we have a shadow cabinet here. I have my own minister of finance and other ministers, just like Tinubu has.
What are the duties of your ministers?
Their duty is to monitor. For instance, my minister of finance monitors what (Wale) Edun does. We can sit down here and critically analyse what he is doing and find solutions. When we meet, I ask my minister of finance or on security to brief us on what is happening. I will analyse it and find out what we can do to help them survive. What’s wrong with that? If they want to arrest anybody for establishing a shadow cabinet, they have one person here waiting for them. Their mentality is that you are either with them or you should not be alive. But it’s not going to work, and we are not going to accept it. For example, we told them: Look, how can you be thinking of building just 20,000 houses in a year? We also said, why would you float the currency and immediately withdraw the subsidy on fuel at the same time? It will not work. We also told them on these CNG vehicles: establish each substation for assembling them in at least two-three sections in a state, so that this issue of queuing to get them will be avoided. We told them, why don’t you establish vocational institutions? All these yahooboys on the streets wouldn’t be there if you had vocational schools in each local government. What does it cost? It costs next to nothing to establish a vocational school.
The presidency dismissed your group’s criticism as “deceitful, prejudiced, and unfounded.” How will youreact to this rebuttal?
What have we said that is not true? Are the people not hungry? Is it not costly to pay for public transport? When we were in secondary school, firms would come around looking for graduates, and they would offer you jobs in this Nigeria. In universities, you would find multinationals going around and talking to students, saying, “When you finish your exam, come and resume in our office,” in this Nigeria.
What is happening now? You graduate, and you don’t have a job. In any case, do you know we still have public primary schools in Nigeria where students are sitting on bare floors, and classrooms without roofs—and you expect them to graduate bright and competitive? They take their own children to France, US, and other foreign countries to study at our expense.
All major presidential candidates in 2023 pledged to remove the fuel subsidy. How could Tinubu have approached the subsidy differently?
All he needed to have done is to identify the corrupt practices in that sector. What you do is to make sure that what they claim to sell is what they are really selling. What happens is this: in a particular depot, you may find 50 vehicles loaded, but only 10 will be accounted for in the books. The other 40 are sold outside the country. There are special agencies who wait at the borders to make sure this doesn’t happen. You need to make sure you stop those people from selling the fuel outside the borders. In a country where they deliberately make sure that the refineries don’t work, yet you are paying billions for turnaround maintenance, you need to stop all that.
Once you do all that, you will see that things will be taking the right shape. The biggest problem in the oil sector is corruption. That is what he should have tackled first.
Afenifere has struggled with internal divisions since before the 2023 elections, and even after the passing of Pa Ayo Adebanjo. What accounts for this prolonged factionalism?
We should ask them (Tinubu government), because they are the ones saying that about us. They have busied themselves over the years trying to factionalise us, but God will not let that happen. They would rather have us divided so that we would not be able to give them full opposition, but it won’t happen. We are older than them. Afenifere is the oldest political organisation in this country, and we shall remain relevant and appropriate.
Tinubu campaigned on the slogan of ‘Yoruba lo kan’ and won significant Yoruba support. Given that reality, why is your group opposing his leadership?
We are not a Yoruba group to start with. We keep telling them that Afenifere is not a Yoruba group. We are for the greatest good for the greatest number. It is nice that it is even happening now because it is proving our point. We are not against Tinubu because he is Tinubu, and we will not be for him because he is Tinubu. We will be for him if he is doing the right thing. We will be against him if he is doing the wrong thing. Anybody can be in that position. If the person is not doing the right thing for the greatest number of Nigerians, we will oppose it. If he is doing the right thing, we will be for him. We are not a Yoruba group at all, and we have proved this several times.
When we operated under Action Group, we had free education in the West, and anybody in that region enjoyed the programme, whether you were Igbo, Itsekiri, or whatever. We built the first standard stadium in Nigeria, and it was not restricted to only Yoruba people. We built Cocoa House, and it wasn’t built for Yoruba people, but for farmers—who could be Yoruba, Igbo, whatever. We built several buildings, including the first industrial estate in the Ikeja area. It wasn’t for Yoruba people but for Nigerians. I recall there was one gentleman called Shugaba (Darman) in the North. He was not even a member of our party, but he was doing so well and, of course, the National Party of Nigeria in those days wanted him out. They concocted a story that he was not a Nigerian, and they wanted to send him out of the country. We stood up, and I was part of the legal team that defended Shugaba, and we resisted it. The poor man was saved and he remained there. He wasn’t a Yoruba man. He was not even a member of our party. But anywhere we see evil, Afenifere will stand up and resist it. I know Tinubu personally. He is a wonderful and nice man. But that’s not the issue. His government is not serving Nigeria well. For that reason, we are not for him. So, when he said “Yoruba lo kan,” whatever he means by that, it doesn’t concern us.
The presidency said 5.7 million households had benefitted from Tinubu’s cash transfer programme. How do you assess this initiative?
Has it reached your household? They know how to do their thing. I have never met anybody who told me he/she has benefitted from the cash transfer. Let them show us one person that has received it. They are taking us for granted. Illiteracy is a terrible disease, and they know it. That is why they would rather spread illiteracy than education. Go and look at their budget. You will see scant reference to education. They don’t care. They would rather impoverish the brain—mentally, everything.
The introduction of student loan scheme was also cited. What is your view on its implementation and impact?
What we advocate is, if you want to say there is free education, then do free education. If you can only take it to secondary level, take it there and let everybody enjoy it. These selective moves are for their children. When you go to the village, how many people there know how to fill a NELFUND form? They don’t even know anything about it. It is for their children and cronies.
It was also mentioned that palliatives have been disbursed to states to cushion hardship. What’s your assessment of their distribution?
I have not seen any palliative. Have you seen one, where is it? I know of a state that said it was distributing agricultural products, and to take part, you have to go to your local government chairman, and then they register you. It then becomes a party thing. They are distributing it to themselves.
Have you also seen any of the CNG buses on your street of road? I have not. I don’t know where they are. These people are just terrible propagandists. They know how to tell lies and act with a very straight face. You will be asking yourself whether you heard them right or not.
Over 1,000 primary healthcare centres are said to have been revitalised nationwide by the Tinubu-led administration. Do you consider this a significant stride in the health sector?
Again, where are they? Let them show them. We are in a mess. Mokwa in Niger State is sinking, and Tinubu has not gone there. There is no much money to make from that one. Where they can make money now is to go and commission 30 out of 700 kilometers of coastal road.
Responding to your concerns about corruption, the presidency cited the suspension of a cabinet minister, over 4,000 convictions by EFCC in 2024, and the recent forfeiture of a 725-unit housing estate. Does this not demonstrate an active anti-corruption stance?
Yes, it does—to the enemies. That housing was said to belong to Emefiele. He should have expected this when he changed the currency while Tinubu was preparing to contest the election. Did he think he would get away with it? It is payback time for Emefiele. He had been marked. If he was intelligent, he would have left the country immediately Tinubu won. He is in trouble, he can’t get out of this. He was not wise enough for building over 700 houses. Let him tell us where he got that money from. But Mr President is not really helping us. He is just doing payback for himself. If Emefiele had not obstructed Tinubu in any way, he would have gotten away with his houses.
The Presidency also rejected allegations of authoritarianism, pointing to judicial independence and the absence of proven partisanship in recent electoral appointments. How do you respond to these claims?
It is a pity where we are. But I hope somebody will clean the table very soon. They need to do what they can to save face, and whatever they can commit thereafter. So, that’s the judicial area. Some Nigerians don’t have any respect for them anymore, and it’s a pity. Mr. President is a very clever man, but is it to the benefit of the nation? I doubt it. That’s our problem.
(punch)
