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NigerianNews

Dare Babarinsa.

Former
Executive Director, Tell Magazine

Ti Oluwa Ni Ile Lodge
Okemesi-Ekiti
08022904926
babalekeleke@yahoo.com

Gubernatorial aspirant for Alliance for Democracy, Ekiti State

Curriculum Vitae

FRIENDS, BROTHERS, COUNTRYMEN

FRIENDS, BROTHERS, COUNTRYMEN
by Dare BABARINSA

"For our country to make progress, we need to create a new and expansive arena to accommodate the aristocracy of intelligence and creative competition."
"Only the best persons - the most qualified whom we could look upon with pride and confidence - must be allowed to be our ambassadors. The era of mediocrity and second rate team is over."

Let us thank Olodumare for Ekitiland. This land is beautiful and rich. In time past, the Ekiti people were the pride of the Yoruba nation. Our ancestors were noted for honesty, industry, integrity and their love of freedom. I thank God for making me an Ekiti man. Many of you sitting in this audience are descendants of great men and women who have played prominent and significant roles in the march of history. We are talking not just about the history of Ekiti, but the history of the Yoruba nation and Nigeria in which we found ourselves. Our people have always been contented with what our land could produce. We were forged in this land; its red soil, its rich forests and its clement weather has contributed to our being. Our ancestors struggled with this land, tending it, building towns and villages on it and being buried in it. They have shed blood defending its integrity; they have composed songs and poems singing its praises. Our ancestors guarded their freedom jealously and sought to enslave no one. They believed that God, through Oodua, created Yoruba land. All Yoruba persons are free and equal and nowhere were these more true than Ekitiland, the land of the brave

This was to change in the 19th Century with the collapse of old Oyo and the destruction of Oyo Ile by Ilorin forces, acting as the iron rod of Sokoto jihadists. The destruction of Old Oyo led to revolutionary changes in Yorubaland. Part of the consequences was the destruction of many towns, including Igbon, Ikoyi, Iresa and Ijaiye, and the rise of new towns like Ibadan, Osogbo and Abeokuta. In order to save Ekitiland from being overrun by Ilorin forces, Ibadan troops were invited to join forces with local warriors and maintain the independence of Ekiti people. However, by subterfuge and clever manoeuvring, the Ibadan forces, invited as liberators, became oppressors of the Ekiti people. But this is a land of freedom and the land of the brave. Our ancestors would have said, in the words of Patrick Henry, the hero of American war of independence, that "give me freedom or give me death."

In May 1878, that is 126 years ago, the Ekiti people finally said enough! Isola Fabunmi, a prince of Okemesi-Ekiti, arrested the local ajele, the resident representing the Ibadan authorities in Okemesi, and beheaded him. The news spread like wild fire. Within a month, over 140 communities in the Ekiti, Ijesa and Igbomina areas sent delegates to Okemesi to pledge support for Fabunmi and join forces to confront the Ibadan armies. That was the prelude to the Ekitiparapo War which pitted the Ibadan against the grand alliance that included not just Ekiti, but also Igbomina, Ife and Ijesa. The Ekitiparapo forces were led by Ogedengbe of Ilesa who was the commander-in-chief of the allied forces. His deputy was Fabunmi

Today, a new kind of war is upon us and descendants of these fighters for freedom are stirring. Unlike the convulsion that descended on the Yoruba country in the 19th Century, today, Yorubaland is relatively at peace. Our rulers are elected by our own people. We have elected parliaments and the structures of a modern democratic state appear to be in place. Yet, we know that our country is overhung with the twilight of uncertain peace. The worrying question is, what should be the future of the Nigerian federation and the future of the Yoruba nation within it?

In a public lecture at the University of Ibadan in 1994, Chief Bola Ige, first elected governor of old Oyo State, posited two questions for the Nigerian people. "Must Nigeria stay together as one country? If the answer is yes, in what form do we stay together?"

I agree that the first question is settled. Many people would agree with me, however, that the second question is still extant and needs to be settled.

It is a historic fact that the greatest progress ever made in Yoruba history was made when Yorubaland was ruled by one government led by Chief Obafemi Awolowo and his successors - Chief Ladoke Akintola, Colonel Adekunle Fajuyi, Colonel Adeyinka Adebayo and Brigadier Oluwole Rotimi. If you want to know the difference, compare the Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU, Ile-Ife, built by the government of the West with money derived from cocoa and other produce, to any of the new state universities scattered across Yorubaland. The difference, as they say, is clear.

Therefore, the destination of Yorubaland is clear despite the efforts of those who are benefiting from the current system. Yorubaland will come under one government for this our destiny. However, when the single government is instituted, I do not envisage the abolition of the states. If Nigeria could be a federation, Yorubaland also could be a federation. We need to accept that just like the Nigeria state, created by the British, is a reality, so also the present states of Ekiti, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Ogun and Lagos, are realities. We accept these realities. Therefore, if we accept the reality of what the British and the military created, how can we deny the oneness of the Yoruba nation as created by God Almighty himself?

A new regional government would unleash the collective energy of the Yoruba people and turn our nation around. It would ignite cultural, industrial and spiritual revolution and give a new renaissance to the Yoruba language. We would no longer be held down by the collective shackles of quota system, zoning and compulsive mediocrity. No longer would a child who wants to enter the university or the polytechnic be qualified because of his or her state of origin. For our country to make progress, we need to create a new and expansive arena to accommodate the aristocracy of intelligence and creative competition.

For each member of the younger generation, you need to understand that just as our country is reaching a turning point, so also are you reaching a turning point in your life. You are going to compete, not just with your colleagues in Ekiti State, or even Nigeria. You are competing on a global scale. Your state of origin, your local government area and your senatorial zone would not save you from that competition if you want to be the best. You must prepare yourself to be the best, the very best that can compete with anyone anywhere in the world

Our ancestors fought wars because they believed in freedom. They believed that they could secure justice with the persistent pursuit of the truth even at the cost of their lives. They were ready to endure hardship and suffer losses because of their belief. Today, we need to stand up for our belief in excellence

In doing this, you are only following the beaten path of your ancestors and leaders. It is this land of Ekiti that produced the likes of Professor Jacob Ade-Ajayi, world-class historian and a National Merit Award winner. This is the land of the late Professor Oluwakayode Osuntokun, world-renowned neurologist and the first person to win the Charles Drew Award for medicine. Charles Drew, for your information, is the African-American who discovered blood transfusion. This is also the land of Niyi Osundare, award-winning poet of world fame. It is equally the land that produced Sir Remi Omotoso, who grew up from the fertile land of Aiyedun to become the group managing director of Oodua Group of Companies. This land also produced Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi, the first person to take an indigenous company to the Nigeria Stock Exchange. This is the land of Babafemi Ojudu, one of Nigeria's most celebrated journalists and a hero of the struggle against military rule in our country. This is the land of Kola Ogunmola, an important member of the triumvirate that founded the modern Nigerian theatre. The other two members are Duro Ladipo and Hubert Ogunde.

Therefore, the youths of Ekiti must accept no limitation nor boundary to their ambition and reach. You must dream great dreams and pursue grand ambitions. The world is not waiting for you, but you must pursue it and seize it by the helm. Think of yourself as the next builder of empires like Mike Adenuga and Aliko Dangote. Go out and build institutions like Olasubomi Balogun or transform your environment like Kabiyesi Oladele Olasore. Ekiti has the raw materials to produce the next Wole Soyinka or Emeka Anyaoku who could become known in every corner of the world. After all, this is the land of Mojola Agbebi, the first Nigerian university graduate. It is not for nothing that our state is known as the Fountain of Knowledge.

However, we have watched with understandable anxiety that this fountain is being polluted at the source. The Ekiti brand that is noted for credibility and integrity is now besmeared with indolence, fraud and get-rich-quick syndrome. Unlike our ancestors, many of the youths of today are for sale. They are ready to trade themselves in politics for the highest bidder. They claim they do this because of poverty and wants. They are selling themselves and their descendants to slavery because of a slice of bread. Yet in the past, an Ekiti man would rather die than subject himself to slavery or sell his conscience for a piece of cake. If this wayward youth and their sponsors should succeed, then Ekitiland would become a prey to political enslavement and exploitation. We know the majority of Ekiti people will not allow them. It is time the moral majority stood up to be counted.

There are conditions we must fulfil before we can set Ekitiland on the right course. First, we have to install credible and creative leadership who believe in the goodness and possibilities of our people. That leadership must be prepared to restore our pride and instil hope in the people. It must be ready to embark on comprehensive social engineering that would result in free and qualitative education that would re-assert our reputation as the Fountain of Knowledge. It must have programmes for the empowerment of our people through proper training and avenues for productive employment. It must restore the dignity of Ekiti people as an important component of the Yoruba Nation. These tasks are not going to be easy. But we must begin. Now!

Ekiti must take its rightful place, not just in Yorubaland, but in Nigeria. Never again must we allow second eleven teams to represent us or carry our flags either within Yorubaland or the larger Nigerian estate. Only the best persons - the most qualified whom we could look upon with pride and confidence - must be allowed to be our ambassadors. The era of mediocrity and second rate team is over. If we want the best for Ekiti, then Ekiti has to be represented by the very best

An abridged version of a lecture delivered recently by Dare Babarinsa, a former executive director of TELL, now a governorship aspirant in Ekiti State, under the auspices of Ekiti Youths in Politics

"In May 1878, that is 126 years ago, the Ekiti people finally said enough! Isola Fabunmi, a prince of Okemesi-Ekiti, arrested the local ajele, the resident representing the Ibadan authorities in Okemesi, and beheaded him. The news spread like wild fire. Within a month, over 140 communities in the Ekiti, Ijesa and Igbomina areas sent delegates to Okemesi to pledge support for Fabunmi and join forces to confront the Ibadan armies. That was the prelude to the Ekitiparapo War which pitted the Ibadan against the grand alliance that included not just Ekiti, but also Igbomina, Ife and Ijesa. The Ekitiparapo forces were led by Ogedengbe of Ilesa who was the commander-in-chief of the allied forces. His deputy was Fabunmi"