Memoirs of a Dying Father

One of the things we grew up to learn about our history is that in the days of old, the strong ruled the weak and the wise grew strong (my favourite line in a certain song). Warriors became kings and willed the crown.  From this lineage of warriors a child was born. Fathered from a royal bloodline and born to a mother from a family popularly known for playing the traditional talking drums.

As the warrior implies, this young boy grew up to be a strong man fierce in battle and may have cheated death too many times to comprehend. At a point, he was caught up in the middle of the Ife-Modakeke crisis right across the line of fire. He was also brave enough to occasionally step out putting his life in line to protect others, facing armed robbers in a fire exchange a few times. But yet a peacemaker and a fun loving fine gentleman I grew up to call Father.

Our family like any other had the highs and the lows as every regular family. But one special thing kept us bound together. This was his love for having the whole family around him at all times (nuclear and extended). He practiced the rule of a ‘family that eats together stays together.’ Though father never followed anyone to school to gain admissions, he usually ended up always being the PTA chairman at all the schools we attended (I don’t know how). I remember at a particular point he called my siblings and I together and said, “I may not be doing everything right, just know that I never really had a father to teach me how to be one.” That was meant to justify learning on the job. I saw that as his manly way of apologising for all the mistakes he has made and yet to make which I think was just fine and acceptable.

I'm not sure I will end this note in brief if I decide to describe the almost 20 year experience I had being a son. What I do know is that the time was fulfilling and everyone that knew Prince Adedotun Adegboyega Layade can testify there was never a dull moment around him. I've heard people say "certain people show signs of their last days when the time is near". Now that I'm thinking about it, it seems pretty obvious but no one payed attention to it. But you never really know these things and how they work.

Thinking back to about a month before Father passed on, we had to take a trip to Abuja for a family event, only to my surprise he decided we were going to hire a minivan. It was understandable to go by road since he never felt comfortable enough with local flights and was always on the road. What I couldn’t place my thoughts to understand was the reason to pay heavily to hire a vehicle having two drivers and a series of long distance worthy vehicles. Strangely on our way back around Ekiti, the hired minivan from a very popular transport company in the country broke down. Yet again very unlike father we chartered a taxi station wagon (505) just at that spot straight to Ibadan. No refund was claimed and no report made to the company.

For those that understand my dad’s religious doctrine, he decided to worship at the family Anglican Church in Ile-Ife the Sunday before his demise. This was yet another shocking unexplainable occurrence. It was a regular Sunday service. I won’t really say I know or understand what transpired between that Sunday and Tuesday July 01, 2008 the sad incident occurred. But what I can say I noticed was a sober reflection. We worked together all through Monday preparing a contract tender documents he was due to submit in Benin, Edo state on Tuesday. This kept us both working till about 10pm Monday night. Tuesday morning, he prepared for his trip as always noting he will make a stopover at Ife. When he was ready to leave I was assigned a few tasks for the office while he’ll be away. He handed me a thousand naira saying “ recharge your phone with this so you don’t have any excuse not to call to check up on me though I know you’ll be fine,” make sure you call because you never do, and he shook my hand to say goodbye.

Sadly, that was the last and final goodbye we shared on the first day of July year two thousand and eight.

Some mysteries can never be uncovered, and some questions are better left unasked. Till this very day seven years after, I still have questions never asked, and mysteries yet to be uncovered. I choose to make peace and move on knowing he lived a fulfilled life though I will give almost anything to say the words I never said and a final goodbye. For all the loved ones that have passed on, their memories live on in our hearts and in our minds. Live long dear dad.

Deji Layade

"To keep Nigeria one is a task that must be done"

Ethnicity is usually used to define a group of persons sharing a common cultural heritage. It is made by common history, environment, territory, language, customs, habits, believes, in short, by a common way of life. Tribe is simply an ethnic sub-set within which all or most human activities are organized on the basis of kinship. Religion has so many definition but I will used an organized system of beliefs, ceremonies, and rules used to worship a God or a group of gods.

Nigeria as we have it today is a result of the 1914 amalgamation of the Northern and Southern Nigeria by the British.  According to Dr. Ochonu (Professor of African History at Vanderbilt University)  “The amalgamation was an act of colonial convenience. It occurred mainly because British colonizers desired a contiguous colonial territory stretching from the arid Sahel to the Atlantic Coast, and because Northern Nigeria, one of the merging units, was not paying its way while Southern Nigeria, the other British colony, generated revenue in excess of its administrative expenses. It made practical administrative sense to have one coherent British colony rather than two. It also made sense to merge a revenue-challenged colonial territory with a prosperous colonial neighbor, so the latter can subsidize the former.”

Northern Nigeria

Divided into 3geopolitical blocks (NW, NE &NC) are mostly Muslim. It includes States from the Sokoto Caliphate, Kano Emirate and Bornu Empire. The ethical diversity is very minimal especially because of the strong influence of Islam as a way of life.

Southern Nigeria

Divided into 3geopolitical blocks (SW, SE & SS) are mostly Christians. It includes the Lagos Colony, Oyo Empire, Kingdom of Benin, Oil Rivers Protectorate (Niger Coast Protectorate) & parts of the Royal Niger Company. The social political influence is mostly western and traditional African.

Religious and Ethnic crisis is not new to Nigeria. Before the amalgamation, the different states and ethnic groups that make up Nigeria have had various tribal wars and in some cases inter-ethnic wars like when Sokoto Caliphate went to war against Yoruba.  The most recent example of tribal war was the Ife-Modakeke war in 2000 which was the 7^th and most brutal since 1835. From my findings, the tribal wars are dated far back in history and if any still occur it’s just a fragment of what used to be a full scale war in the 18^th -19^th century. Some of the tribal wars that took place in Nigeria are:

•  Aro-Ibibio wars which occurred in South East Nigeria which led to the establishment of the Arochukwu Kingdom.  
• The battle was between the Aro people and Ibibio.
• The Fulani/Hausa war that led to the establishment of Sokoto Caliphate and Kano Emirate by Usman Dan Fodio (1804-1808).
• Kiriji war fought by the Yoruba’s for 16years is the longest civil war by any ethnic group (1870 -1886).

1960 -1966

Series of events show that the inter-ethnic conflict in Nigeria was very prominent during this period.

The political parties where from across ethnic lines:

• Northern People’s Congress (NPC) the party was formed by Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and Sir Ahmadu Bello in 1949.
• National Council of Nigeria and Cameroun (NCNC) the party was formed by Nnamdi Azikwe and Herbert Marcaulay in 1944. Although the party is said to be Nationalistic, the leadership was dominated by Igbo’s and a few yoruba’s
• Action Group (AG) the party was formed by Chief Obafemi Awolowo in 1951.

One thing to note here is that at some point, the NCNC formed an Alliance with the northern dominated party NPC to set up a conservative coalition. The AG ended up becoming the 1^st opposition party since independence.  Later on, Ladoke Akintola formed a pro-government party called Nigeria National Democratic Party (NNDP) in 1964 after he broke away from Awolowo’s AG because of his refusal to form an alliance with NPC. Abubakar Tafabalwa was the first Nigerian Prime Minister while Nnamdi Azikwe was the ceremonial president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

1966 – 1967

Nigeria saw its 1st coup which was carried out by the rebel Southern Nigeria soldiers led by Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu with the support of Major Don Okafor, Major Humphrey Chukwuka, Major Major Emmanuel Ifeajuna, Major Timoty Onwuatuegwu, Major Chris Anufor & Major Adewale Ademoyega. This coup led to the assassination of Ahmadu Bello, Tafawa Balewa, Ladoke Akintola, Brigadier Samuel Ademulegun, Col Ralph Sodehinde, Lt Col James Pam, Lt Col Abogo Largema, Col Kur Mohammed, Festus Okotie Eboh, Brig. Zakariya Maimalari  and the only Igbo Lt Col Arthur Unegbe who was killed because of his closeness to Brig Mailari  and to prevent him from raising alarm. In summary this was a predominantly an Igbo led coup that wiped out the top politicians in the Northern and Western Nigeria.

The next phase which led to the 2^nd coup was trigger by the fact that none of the high profile casualties from the 1^st coup were Igbo and also because the main beneficiaries of the coup were Igbo. This led to the death of Aguyi Ironsi and Adekunle Fajuyi by a coup led by Theophilus Danjuma in Ibadan. This counter coup led to the installation of Lt Col Yakubu Gown as Head of State because of his good reputation in the army, a Christian and he is from a seemingly neutral minority Northern tribe.

Biafra War (1967 -1970)

After various disagreements over the Aburi meeting in Ghana, civil war broke out on 6^th July 1967 after Ojukwu declared Biafran secession on May 30, 1967. On July 1st 1967, Gowon, revoked the appointment of Ojukwu as Military Governor of the East Central State. Five days later the war broke out after Ojukwu was dismissed from the army. The war was between the then Eastern Region of Nigeria and the rest of the country.  The Eastern Region declared itself an independent state which was regarded as an act of secession by the Federal Military Government of Nigeria.  The war was fought to reunify the country. In order to understand what led to the civil war, it is necessary to give a brief background history of Nigeria.  

  "The world knows how hard we strove to avoid the civil war. Our objectives in fighting the war to crush Ojukwu’s rebellion were always clear. We desired to preserve the territorial integrity and unity of Nigeria. For as one country we would be able to maintain lasting peace amongst our various communities; achieve rapid economic development to improve the lot of our people; guarantee a dignified future and respect in the world for our prosperity and contribute to African unity and modernization. On the other hand, the small successor states in a disintegrated Nigeria would be victims of perpetual war and misery and neo-colonialism. Our duty was clear. And we are, today, vindicated.” - Yakubu Gowon

“On our side, we fought the war with great caution, not in anger or hatred, but always in the hope that common sense would prevail. Many times we sought a negotiated settlement, not out of weakness, but in order to minimize the problems of reintegration, reconciliation, and reconstruction. We knew that however the war ended, in the battlefield, or in the conference room, our brothers fighting under other colours must rejoin us and that we must together rebuild the nation anew.” - Yakubu Gowon

“I have learned a word from the British, which is “sorry”! That’s how I want to respond to your question. I did not want this war but I want to win this war. Therefore I have to kill the Igbos. Sorry! The End” - Brig Benjamin Adekunle (The Black Scorpion) 

“I regret the disabilities of the war. It was a choice: it was either to become a slave of the Hausas in that time, or to do what we did. And up till tomorrow, whenever I’m given the opportunity to choose, I’ll reject slavery.” – Odumegwu Ojukwu

“It is only those who have not been involved in a war that will always push war as the first solution to any problem. War does not solve, it cowers but the problem remains.” - Odumegwu Ojukwu

FACTS:

A) If you  are born in say New York, when asked where you are from you say the US. Meanwhile, you are born in Ado Ekiti but your dad is from Abakaliki, when asked where you are from you quickly say Abakaliki.

B) You find it easy to celebrate Nigerians in diaspora contesting for office but you won’t let a fulani man run for reps in Onitsha or Ijebu man run for LG in Kano.

C) Why do Nigerians in diaspora especially the migrants refer to Nigerians as "you people"? I find it very very annoying sha.

D) We all love Suya, Nkwobi, Isi ewu, Ponded Yam & Egusi, efo riro …foods that come from various tribes.

E) When we decide to dwell on the physical we love the curves of the Calabar woman, the beauty of the Fulani woman and the finesse of the Yoruba babe.

F) You hardly find a NE/NW getting married to a SS/SE
G) Our music cuts across ethnic barriers. Thats why we can have Phyno, Ice Prince & Olamide on the same stage. 

The truth is no ethnic group is superior to the rest. We need to learn to co-exist in peace and put the past behind us. Every ethnic group has experienced their own share of oppression by another ethnic group. The real history of the Native Americans and Australians compared to their level of development now is an example that we can put all these ethnic beef behind us to build our Nation.  

Nigeria Decides (My view from the sideline and basic principles you should understand)

I am indeed not a politician neither registered to any political party and yet still undecided on who to vote for at the upcoming 2015 general elections.

I must also say this period gives me the opportunity to explore my discipline.

We cry for change which I am in total agreement with. You ask why?

You can’t always do the same thing over and over and expect to get a different outcome. So there is a need for a paradigm shift, but the question that pops to mind is; what kind of change do we really need?

I will leave you to ponder about this on your own.

Ultimately, looking back through the years as they say; “knowledge of the history gives a better understanding of the future”.

Our great nation has suffered so many losses in in terms of resources with huge human resource included starting from the civil war down to this current day.  I’m sure we all have a wide knowledge of this as it will not be the centre of this short essay of mine.

Focusing on what led me to putting pen on paper. A look into the standard practice of Political parties, you will agree with me political parties are institution built on the rock of ideologies.  An ideology in the English dictionary has been defined as “a system of ideas and ideals, especially one which forms the basis of economic or political theory and policy”. These are set of standards and fundamental philosophy that guide activities, aims and focus.

Brief case study:  The Republican Party (U.S) holds the belief that all material things are earned, not owed. This is seen most often in the party's push for lower taxes.  They believe the economy should be open and all to earn what they get. They strongly believe in the private sector in terms of development and empower this means. Citizens are treated equally despite income, race, gender, or religion with an opportunity to fend for self. They also see taxes as a drag on the economy, and believe private spending is usually more efficient than public spending. This ideology is broken down into Social conservatism, economic liberalism, Fiscal conservatism encouraging conservatism in the U.S.

On the other hand: The Democratic Party (U.S) generally supports government involvement in terms of funding those in poverty and those facing social injustice. They believe government initiatives and regulations can develop the economy and reduce business practices they state affect average American negatively. The Democratic Party has been known to support stronger taxation system, progressive social cause and government responsibility in addressing issues such as poverty and access to education and health care. This is broken down into Social liberalism; Progressivism.

First of all it is clear the foundation of our political system is none existent as we see no ideology to hold on to. This explains spontaneous cross carpeting within the political sector. I need not say any further on this.

This leads me to another important political term called Campaign:  Campaign is defined by the Cambridge dictionary as a planned group of especially political, business, or military activities that are intended to achieve a particular aim. In this context I will say a campaign is an organized effort or system adopted to canvas for votes. This I believe as against all the jamboree activities should strongly carry along the train a Manifesto.

Manifesto: This is a written statement of goals and opinions of a person or a group. The word is derived from the Latin word “manisfestum” which in its literal sense means “clear”.

A campaign without clear stated goals (manifesto) is like a Vision without a Mission to drive it. The phrase “clear stated goals” is highlighted and for this purpose refers majorly to issues and a “how”. This simply explains beyond what I need not write.

It is clear that Nigerians know and understand where the shoe hurts without been told over and over again. However, we cannot say because we are hungry for change we will forget our purpose as citizens. There is a need to keep both ears and all eyes on the offers that are being made to us (If any concrete offer has been laid down so far).

I am patiently waiting on that day we will reach the level where:

1)     Political parties are known for their ideologies with candidates aligned to the same ideology.

2)    Campaigns that will address key issues than lay on the corridors of sentimental appeal.

3)     Manifestos that state not just needed solutions, but how they can be achieved rather than narrating the problems we have long lived with.

Till all these are achieved I take a space on the sideline and watch the movie roll.

Remember, the power to effect the change you desire has placed on your palms, be it change of leader or a changed leader. This however can be brought to life only when we Nigerians decide. 

by Deji Layade