A social critic and President of the Afonja Descendants’ Union (ADU), Alhaji Abdulkarim Olola Kasum, is a product of the Kwame Nkrumah political ideology. The former chairman of the defunct Mooro Local Government Council of Kwara State revealed that since the colonial period, Kwara politics has revolved around ethnic controversies between the Fulani and Yoruba. In this interview with BISI ADEDAYO, he also spoke on other topical national issues. Excerpts:

What shape do you want the proposed national conference just approved by President Goodluck Jonathan to take?

Ordinarily, I would not have commented on this issue because I have not seen the details of the proposed conference. Nevertheless, if the Federal Government will allow Nigerians to air their views without necessarily censuring people, it is a welcome development. Provided that people with radical opinions will be allowed to talk freely without giving them no-go-areas,

I key into such arrangement. Whether it is ordinary conference or Sovereign National Conference, is immaterial. What is important and germane is that it should be capable of addressing the nation’s problems with a view to solving them.  You will recall that the National Political Reformation Conference was put up the same way with this one in reaction to the constant demands by a wider platform where all people can debate and interact and discuss about our problems as well as relationship.

Lord Luggard amalgamated Nigeria in 1914.  There have been lots of distortions in the system, and only one group of the country continued to rule the whole nation as if Nigeria was created for a particular tribe or section. We wanted a re-structuring which will address all these knotty problems and this is the major call for the national conference. On the mode of

representation, credible people should be elected into the conference and not by hand picking people. Besides, representatives of various interest groups should be part of the conference. On no account should government choose people for the conference. For instance, in Ilorin Emirate, the Emir should neither be part of the conference or be allowed to

choose people into that conference. Rather, the people of the Emirate should be allowed to elect their representatives. Therefore, the national conference or whatever its name is a welcome development provided it will solve once and for all our myriads of problem.

Can you compare politics of the first republic with  today in Kwara State?

During the defunct Action Group (AG) time, all the electoral seats in Ilorin Emirate were won by the AG and it manifested that the Yorubas were in the majority.  All those people who went to Northern House of Assembly from Ilorin Emirate were elected on AG tickets since it was based on ethnic politics. The Northern Peoples’ Congress (NPC) represented the few

Fulanis while the AG represented the Yoruba people.  That was why J. S. Olawoyin, J. G. Ekunrin, Sule Maito and Laro won in those days.  But when money politics came, the whole thing changed.  Today, what we have been witnessing is ding-dong politics. When Mohammed Lawal became the State Governor, the Fulani people started ethnic politics. They were led by late Dr. Olusola Saraki.

He (Saraki) brought a lot of money from his bank, which has collapsed and spent it everywhere. Consequently, he overturned Lawal. But definitely, we know that change is obviously in sight and when it comes back, the status quo will be regained while the Emir group will run away and be relegated to the background.  When we talk of PDP in the State, it is Fulani

government, whether we like it or because all the commissioners are all Fulanis and those of them who didn’t have Fulani blood but Yorubas are only holding power in name.  They are ordinary messengers. In the State House of Assembly, the Speaker is a Fulani man. We still don’t have a government in the state because it is a government manipulated by Fulani, while its policies are executed to protect their interest.  The Yoruba majorities are just singers while the tunes are being dictated by the Fulanis.

But how do you react to the insinuation that the Yoruba are not the aborigines of Ilorin?

It is clear that Ilorin is nothing but Yoruba, even the name Ilorin is Yoruba coined from two words (‘Ilo-Irin’ Iron sharpner).  If you look at the landmass in Ilorin, every manifestation shows that there is no other tribe apart from Ilorin.  Even late Dr. Sola Saraki who reportedly said Yoruba is infinitesimal in Ilorin was also a Yoruba man because you cannot see a Fulani

man bearing ‘Olusola Saraki’. So, he was a Yoruba man from the west and being employed by the Fulani people to protect and promote their interest.  The tomb of his mother is in Iseyin while that of his father is not in Ilorin.  His wife is not from Ilorin and Saraki has gotten nothing to show that he is an Ilorin man. The population of Yoruba people of Ilorin is more than

eighty five percent and when you look at the name of local areas in Ilorin, you will find that they are Yoruba except places of small tribes like Kanike, Gobir, Hausa, Nupe etc. and they are minorities.  From the foundation of Ilorin, Afonja has spread wide to various places outside Ilorin such as Ifelodun, Asa, Offa and other council areas in the State.  In some areas in Ilorin,

you will find manifestation of Yoruba in their names including where the Emir is living which is called ‘Fagba’ and you cannot find this name in Sokoto.  Other Yoruba names include Adifa, Idi-Ape, Omoda, Okelele, Oju-Ekun, Oko-Erin and lots others.

It is alleged that Yoruba monuments are not preserved in Ilorin. How far is it true?

Long minority rule by the Fulanis has caused all these things.  When colonial government came which in itself was illegal, they actually joined the Fulani illegal system to perpetuate what was there.  For years, the only language that is a vehicle of culture among the people of Ilorin is Yoruba. If you go to any part of Ilorin Emirate, the basic language spoken by the people is

Yoruba.  But historical monumental issues like shrine of Afonja, the sharpening stone and anything indicating Yoruba origin of Ilorin, the Fulani people tried to either suppress or erase it. You will be surprised that there is no street named after Afonja while other minor tribes have streets named after them.  This is one of the strategies adopted by the Fulanis not to keep

the name of Afonja in the minds of the people. You should know that one of the reasons why they fought late Major-Gen. Abdulkarim Adisa was that he established a bank and named it after Afonja.  He was the only person who manifested the existence of Afonja in Ilorin to corroborate history. The Fulani who preferred Ilorin ‘Gerin Alimi’ is ready to pull out a sword on

hearing of ‘Ilorin Afonja’. I want to believe that Adisa’s life was cut short because of his bluntness as far as Ilorin history was concerned. So, you should not be surprised that our historical land mass were erased because the Fulanis fear change which is likely to come one day.  Whether they like it or not, change will come eventually because the change is essence of life.

What was your relationship with late Governor Lawal and what was your last conversation with him before he died?

We were cousins and brothers. In fact, he left on a spur of the moment. He just said he was going to London, probably, he might have some words with his mother or his father, but he didn’t tell me anything.

What brought about the establishment of Afonja Descendants Union (ADU), the umbrella socio-cultural organization of Yorubas in Ilorin which you are leading?

ADU was set up because we felt strongly that the Yoruba majority have been cheated and pushed to the wall.  They have been deprived of their right.  We now decided that in unity lies strength and we got united in order to defend our rights and culture. You will see that those of us that are Yorubas in Ilorin have lost our culture. The few of us who came together to form

the Union did so in 1974, almost 39 years ago.  Since then, we have been agitating for our rights and we tried to enlighten the public.  Before we came, our people were in disarray by Fulani manipulation by using intrigues, divide and rule tactics to keep our families divided.

They used Islam as a mark for the people to sleep over their sufferings.  Islam is a good religion. But the people managing it here do so to serve their own interest. So, our people were deprived the rights to go to school and they gave  their children western education.  They were only exposed to Arabic education.  If you look at the system in Ilorin today, you will see that the Fulani people are the best educated and these are people who came to preach the idea that Islamic education is the best.

The present Emir didn’t learn Sharia but learnt the English Law. They are telling people that Sharia is the best, why then did the Emir learn the English law? All these manipulations informed the formation of ADU to educate, mobilize, enlighten them and defend them whenever the need arises and we have done that. After about 10 years of education, the Ekundayo

panel was set up to look into the differences and the perennial wrangling between the Fulani and the Yoruba in Ilorin.  The panel’s report has not seen the light of the day because the report was in our support. As a result of that, when late Gen. Tunde Idiagbon came to power, the first port of call was the judiciary. Under the manipulation, he removed all judicial officers who adjudicated against the Fulanis, while Justice Ekundayo was retired under the charade of judicial enquiry.

A man in great judicial prospect was relegated to the background because of justice and fair play.  But we are still undaunted and we will continue to fight. Today, our achievements are these, the Fulani and Yoruba people have seen the tricks of the Fulanis.  The third achievement we have made is that when Muhammed Lawal came to power, he was formerly part of the

system and he actually grew through the system.  After strong education, the government of Lawal that jettisoned our rights on the grading of Chiefs and this does not affect Afonja alone, but everybody. The Alanamu group who before then was opposing our ambition was graded; the Balogun group has been graded.  So, it is a great achievement.  At the end of the day, we are going to dismantle the Fulani system and very soon they will see the success of our struggle when the Yoruba majority takes over from the Fulani minority.

There was time that members the Oodua Peoples’ Congress (OPC) were allegedly attempting to install a Yoruba Oba in Ilorin. What do you want to say to that?

The OPC has done a lot and I was a foundation member of OPC which was formed in 1993 when the Yoruba people were pushed to the wall. When Abacha group killed Yoruba people; the OPC came into being to provide security.  Indeed, they did their best because before then, the Yoruba people were regarded as cowards.  But when OPC was formed, they saw the reality

that our people are courageous. They mistook our tolerance for weakness. The OPC actually brought back the lost glory of Yoruba and since that time, we have been fighting strongly to protect the interest of Yoruba. During constitutional conference, the fear and disunity among the Yoruba was removed by the OPC and we played a very strong role in trying to enforce

the ideals of Yoruba. Today, if there is any strong positive achievement recorded, it is an attributes you have to give to OPC.  I am sure, you read about how Gani Adams confronted Maj. Gen. Adeyinka Adebayo (rtd) at one of the meetings.  These people are selling out.

So, our problem is there, but we are still trying very hard. The OPC is the springboard of Yoruba unity now because when we look back, it is the OPC that has removed the fears in the minds of our people. The OPC is a mass movement and like every mass movement; you have so many people in the group.  The Yoruba sovereign, grievances, travails were shared by

every Yoruba youth and everyone wants to participate. The rank and file of OPC was made up of people from different homes and backgrounds.  As time went, these things will start to manifest in the formation and organization and then you have splinter group and don’t forget that the enemies helped on dividing them. Most of our people are illiterates because they

were picked from everywhere and so we could neither stop them nor limit the number of people that indicated interest to join the struggle. But by the grace of God, we have seen through the fork, cleanse and bring sanity to the organization and we are now on the move.  The divisive tendencies have been removed to minimal level and today,we are more focused and ready to fight for the unity of this country in general and the unity of Yoruba people in particular.