OPINION : The Trial Of ‘Brother Sunday Igboho’

A stand-up comedian mounting the stage for the first time will never know the reception of his audience. It could end up being a hit or a miss. Only established or popular comedians can mount any stage and expect fits of laughter. For instance, if Dave Chappelle walks on stage alone without uttering a word yet, the audience laughs. Trevor Noah guarantees that too.

The turf of activism is a very treacherous one. While the spirit of aluta may thrive without any preparation or training, it must not be knee-jerk. It must be measured. You must know where to begin, when to pause and when to end your agitations. Agitation is not all about blowing hot. You blow cold too. Explore confrontation and diplomacy in appropriate measures. Like a stand-up comedian telling his best joke on the first try, once the audience is evidently amused or exhilarated, leave the stage immediately and continue another day. Good jokes that come afterwards may not fly.

No person of  Yoruba extraction should mock Chief Sunday Adeyemo alias “Sunday Igboho”. He fought a genuine fight on the Igangan issue. He took the matter by the scruff of the neck while government at the federal and state level were taciturn and clueless. The matter angered all Yorubas. We all felt enough was enough but we had no one leading from the front except the not so sterling Igboho Oosa. The reception in Igangan was rousing.

There was hope of a genuine resistance. Government got the deserved bashing and they were quick to wake up from their slumber. The matter, by sheer resistance of a Yoruba “one-man Mopol”, was on the front burner for many days.

After the initial gra-gra, there ought to be a pause. Igboho is a non-state actor. He is an “ordinary” citizen bereft of the mighty legally-backed force, clout and influence of the state (“state” here means government from the top down). He lacks the education, experience, circumspection, introspection, influence, protection, powers, immunity and sovereignty of the state. The state, no matter the system of government in place (of which democracy is actually the most liberal), is all-conquering. Ijoba amunimoogun.

Igboho, basking on the euphoria of the Igangan reprieve that he ensured, went to town in a manner suggesting dissidence, uprising and incitement. He picked on notable Yoruba leaders, including Governor Makinde, Asiwaju Tinubu and even the Ooni of Ife. He granted too many boastful and insulting interviews. The art of saying hurtful or scathing words beautifully is not his specialty or forte.

His speeches bordered on crudeness and tactlessness. My admiration for him faded. I was initially so proud of him that I hinted at our facial resemblance. I knew he was teetering on the slopes of doom. I knew the DSS was already all over him compiling dossiers and executing stake-outs of his movements. He simply should have piped down and live to fight another day.

Make no mistake, every Yoruba person should buy into agitations for restructuring. We are not on the same footing or status with the Fulanis. Oppressions are rife and the Fulanis rub it in our faces.

Keeping politics, religion and ethnicity in abeyance, the truth of the matter is that Fulanis enjoy special privileges. Controvert that fact all you like, Miyetti Allah is the socio-political and socio-cultural group that has the greatest influence in Nigeria. It’s the preeminent group of Fulani cattle owners but it’s status as a socio-political juggernaut is unquestionable. Every top Fulani politician is a patron and none dares criticize the group. Even one of the liberal among them, Shehu Sani, told us bare-faced that Miyetti Allah should be respected.

The clout of Miyetti Allah is well-known to every Fulani cattle owner or herder across Nigeria. It intoxicates them into believing they can get away with anything concerning open grazing and malicious destruction of farm crops. Whether it’s in Benue or Oyo and everywhere in between, the mentality is the same.

Our people in Igangan came under the cosh of the intimidation, oppression and high crimes including killings, rapes and kidnappings. Government created vacuums of no communication, no intervention and no abatement. Sunday Igboho stepped in. Would we rather have no one doing the talking and acting to stop the carnage? That is why I would always consider his trip to Igangan, regardless of the methods, very NOBLE.

Sunday Igboho’s lack of education exposed his mediocre sides. It’s why I always tell anyone who cares to listen to at least be formally educated. Unfortunately I don’t think he is surrounded by anyone who understands the concept of consequences. People fight government all the time with the power of pen, organized protests, opinion mounding and resistance. The last is the one no government will tolerate, not even in America. Has America taken kindly to violently storming the Congress during the process of a democratic exercise?

Igboho’s crimes include overdoing his talking in the form of abuse and ridicule of revered personalities (notably the Ooni and Pastor Adeboye); inciting hatred and violence; daring security forces with threats of annihilation, and reportedly resisting arrest when security forces stormed his house.

It is arguable that he is not even close to being among non-state actors who are thorns in the flesh of the government. His activism has not even lasted six months. He was not seen openly carrying firearms. He did not have a militia planning any attack against anyone. It is a moot question whether or not firearms were actually recovered in his house during the DSS-led raid. He is less a threat than the bigger fishes in the ocean of national insurgency.

His message or agitation is targeted at the double standards of the authorities when it comes to the Fulani question. That’s a valid position that should concern all Yorubas regardless of political or religious affiliation. The Fulanis obliterated the powers of the greatest Kingdom in Yorubaland. The expansionist agenda is alive and kicking yet you have Yorubas siding a system that will further relegate us in the comity of socio-cultural groups in Nigeria. This should be a collective struggle.

There’s no reason to think politics on the matter. Fulanis are in both the APC and the PDP. Whether it is Buhari or Atiku at the helms, the story will be the same. The way out is a collective position to point out the oppression and engender dialogue or resistance to attain equity and justice. It goes beyond Igboho who has given a crude try and has failed.

I just pray Yorubas will not regret the preponderance of indifference over genuine reasons to speak out against injustice. It’s our call.

Sunday Igboho has been arrested and he will face the law. History will never forget him regardless of the consequences he may suffer. He is not a coward, not even for escaping DSS arrest and attempting to flee through Cotonou. He is sadly a victim of his own excesses. I pray he gets a reprieve.

 

Muideen Olagunju, a Lawyer and Politician; writes from Ibadan