Chief Richard Akinjide, an unrepentant foe of Awolowo, who spearheaded this infamous 12 2/3rd judicial case at the Supreme Court on behalf of his NPN candidate Shehu Shagari in 1979, thereby ensuring that the Northerners clinched the presidency through the backdoor, was the same man who as Secretary of the NCNC in the West in 1962, was the first politician to call on the Prime Minister and the Northern dominated Fed Govt to declare a State of emergency in the West and to take over its govt after the tussle for the party supremacy between Awolowo and Akintola came to a head.
Akinjide sings a different song today and laments his parochial vision and short-sighted folly in aligning with the Northerners in 1979 when he was appointed Justice Minister. In 1964, he had been appointed Fed Minister of Education by Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa as reward for his rabid anti-Awo stance. He was then a staunch NCNC man.
Now, he has changed his tune. In an interview published in TheNews newsmagazine of September 18, 2000, he described Nigeria as "mere geographical charade" and Northern leaders as "parasites" feasting on the economic fortunes of Southern Nigeria. Akinjide said:
"The problem with Nigeria is that you have those who don't know governing those who know. This is the problem of Northerners. The North believes that it can use the army to rule the country. It cannot work. You cannot hold people down in a form of internal colonialism which has been happening and which Britain created. From the documents which we have now seen, it is quite clear that Britain never wanted a Nigeria ruled by anybody but the Northerners. Unfortunately, a number of Northern leaders cannot separate the public treasury from their private treasury. They believe that the two are synonymous. But in the South, the public treasury is sacred. We are totally different people. If they want to continue to govern by looting the treasury let them but we should not be together. They are looting money that does not belong to them. It is tragic. We are not one people".
Awolowo's political struggles in standing up against the feudal lords(he called them the autocratic ruling caste at the 1962 treason trial) in the North have been vindicated by Akinjide and company, who saw the light after 40 long years.
from Awo: Unfinished Greatness by Olufemi Ogunsanwo page 172 - 173
Ireeeee ooooo kabiti kanka !!!
Richard Akinjide a man who betrayed his people to the Fulani who then dumped him.
Sad, that Yorubaland has too many of these people who can pass exams but are not educated, fools called elders. May he and his generations reap as he has sown.
May Nigeria never happen to us again.
#everygenerationisanewpeople
#Oduduwa