In the previous piece, we focused among other things on an element of the restoration which attended Dr. Otegbeye’s turbulent life. Specifically, we examined how he was restored by the Namibian president, Sam Nujoma.
The subsequent step in the salad of restoration, as identified by the author, can be found in the invitation which was extended to him as regards participation in the National Political Reform Conference. One of the most revealing aspects of the conference as stated in the book was that it was, indeed, a ruse by the then head of state to obtain a third term. Luckily for Nigeria, it could be said that in this regard, failure outweighed success. Much of the immediate foregoing is a sad testament on one of our so-called elder statesmen.
The subsequent phase in the portal of restoration was in Ilaro, the author’s hometown. Here, the author chose to dwell on the rather interesting links between Ilaro and a Caribbean Island, Barbados. Consequently in this particular chapter, we are treated to a sub-narrative of the slave trade, and how many of the inhabitants of Barbados actually came originally from Ilaro. Indeed, as revealed in the book, the official residence of the Barbadian prime minister bears the name ILARO COURT!
What was most numbing as revealed by the author was that although slavery had long been abolished in the Barbados, its legacies of inequality and class dichotomy continue to haunt the Island. And this may well be true of the other islands in the Caribbean. This is perhaps the only conclusion that one can come to when Dr. Otegbeye revealed in the book that the whites in Barbados constitute only 2 percent of the population and yet they control 80 percent of the economy.
Incidentally, part of the Restoration Agenda was the author’s restored relationship with Governor Gbenga Daniel. At a point in time, according to him, there was mutual antipathy between him and the former governor. But in the course of time they became the best of friends, such that at virtually all official functions, Otegbeye became something of a permanent fixture. Thus it was that at the parley between Ogun State government and the Chinese delegation, Tunji Otegbeye was there. This, incidentally, was part of chapter six which focused on “The Lesson From China”. In this particular chapter, we are taken through the author’s involvement with China. In the process we are told how China refurbished itself from being a third world country to being the spectacle that it is today. According to Otegbeye, what was partly responsible for China’s transformation was its flexibility. Specifically on page 120, the author asserts that China had to borrow macro-economic ideas from the capitalist world, as well as jettison most of its collective ownership tenets.
Incidentally, it was in this chapter that I encountered one of the most valid prophetic insights of Dr. Otegbeye. According to him, factors like the ease of information dissemination and transportation in the 21st century mean that the poor in poor nations are not easily restrained from flocking into rich parts of the world. The on-going rush to Europe via the Sahara is a clear testimony to this contention by Dr. Otegbeye.
In the next three and final chapters, we are taken through Dr. Otegbeye’s reflections on Yorubas and Yorubaland within the wider context of the Nigerian nation. It was possible to see here that the socialist in Otegbeye had virtually rediscovered himself and his roots. Among other things, he attempted to highlight what he regarded as the importance of Yoruba states to Nigeria. In the process, he dwelt on the pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial politics of Yorubaland as these relate to the larger dynamics in Nigeria.
However, historians are likely to take issues with aspects of his rendition here. For instance, he asserts on page 160 of the book that “Akintola challenged the legality of the Governor’s action in the High Court of Western Nigeria, but the court transferred the case to the Supreme Court”. With due respect to the author, not quite. Somewhere along the line, the Privy Council in London was involved. But the Council was subsequently removed from the process by the then status-quo forces in Nigeria. It was an act of perfidy whose contradictions eventually caught up with the then custodians of the Nigerian state.
The subsequent chapter was mainly devoted to Awolowo’s sterling leadership in the Western region. He reveals here the planning and cerebral insights which went into governance of the then Western region. He compares this with what passes for governance in the self-same area in contemporary times.
Although he did not say as much, it is evident from the available information in chapter eight that all those aspirants to Awolowo’s mantle are mere Lilliputians! The contrast which he draws between Awolowo and these modern-day upstarts can be seen on page 213 of the book.
Kayode Soremekun
