••• We visited Fasoranti, not Afenifere
••• Bola Ige founded it and took it away
A former governor of Osun State and the chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Bisi Akande said Bola Ige, a second republic governor of Oyo State and minister of justice under Obasanjo administration, created Afenifere, the foremost Yoruba sociocultural group, and that the association has gone with his death.
Chief Akande stated this in a recent interview with Edmund Obilo.
He admitted that the assassination of Ige in 2001 saw the death of the influential Yoruba group.
He detailed how the Afenifere was formed at Bola Ige’s residence in 1992, replacing the Egbe Omo Odua, which was banned alongside the Action Group by the military government in 1966.
He noted that Afenifere, which started as a political movement, was an idea of the late Bola Ige.
Despite initial rejection by some stakeholders, Afenifere became popular with the ambition of MKO Abiola, who was believed to have won the 1993 presidential election, Akande said.
He added that Afenifere gave birth to NADECO during the persecution of Abiola.
The ex-Osun governor revealed that some of Ige’s colleagues, like Ayo Adebanjo, Olaniwun Ajayi, were never happy that Afenifere was his idea and decided to work against him.
According to him, Ige nominated Abraham Adesanya as the leader of Afenifere following the death of Adekunle Ajasin.
Akande also revealed how Adebanjo and Ajayi worked against Bola Ige’s presidential ambition, leading to the emergence of Olu Falae and the candidate of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) in 1999.
Falae was defeated in the general election by Olusegun Obasanjo, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
“That was the beginning of the crack ( in Afenifere) but the end came with the death of Bola Ige. The death of Bola Ige was the death of Afenifere. He found it and he took it away,” he said.
When the interviewer said “but Afenifere is not dead.” Akande said, “I don’t know but it is not the Afenifere we formed.”
Excerpts
Were you happy he did not win?
Oh, I was unhappy because I know since he (Bola Ige) didn’t win, I know the man ( Olu Falae) who won would never win. ( the 1999 Presidential election)
You were sure Falae was not going to win?
Oh, yes. I knew there was no way Falae could win. Who knows Falae? What was Falae? I say to him in his face, what was Falae? It was Bola Ige who introduced Falae to us.
So how did you allow Falae to contest against Bola Ige?
Oh, he is free to contest. I could have contested.
How could he have defeated Bola Ige when nobody knew him?
Look, look, how he defeated Bola Ige is beyond my control. But he had every right.
That means Bola ige had opponents within?
Oh, yes. From the leadership, yes.
He didn’t calculate well?
Eh, he would not have thought that the result would be like that.
He was disappointed?
He should be very disappointed.
He was angry?
Oh, I was angry too because I knew since Bola Ege did not win, there was no election. It was only Obasanjo now. Who else would vote for him? All the APP governors, all, seven of them, voted Obasanjo. They voted for themselves at the governorship election and voted for Obasanjo at the presidential election. If it were Bola Ige, it would be different.
And that was the beginning of the crack?
Oh, yes, that was. No, I would say that was the beginning of the crack, but the end came with the death of Bola Ige. The death of Bola Ige was the death of Afenifere. Because he founded it, and he took it away.
Afenifere is not dead, Chief Bisi Akande.
I don’t know. I don’t know where it is. Maybe you know it’s not the Afenifere we formed.
But your man Tinubu visited Afenifere before the election.
We visited Fasoranti, Not Afenifere. As far as I know, Bola Ige has taken away Afenifere.
