The purpose of this article is two fold.

1 The first is to contribute to the general quest to ‘reinvent’ and redefine issues-based political party system in our country.

2 The second is to attempt to clarify political positions and beliefs within the broad political spectrum in the southwest geo-political zone. There are two questions here that need to be answered. [A] Is the Afenifere  an umbrella grouping , inclusive of all identifiable political tendencies in the southwest, thus by this definition, a mere socio-cultural organization? [B] Is the Afenifere  the Yoruba socio-linguistic abstraction/interpretation of a definable political praxis/beliefs and thus a political party made up of members who identify with and subscribe to these beliefs and positions of the party?

 

We should  take it granted that for a person to understand a phenomenon, particularly a social phenomenon, one has to study its origin and history. So, to history we must go.

In 1951, the year of self-government in Western Nigeria, the Yoruba were largely illiterate. In that same year, a political party was born in Owo, which gave itself the name,  ‘Action Group’. The chiefs and elites who formed this party had specific objectives in mind, to wit, to embark on a radical socio-economic transformation of western Nigeria, particularly in education, health, agriculture. Pursuant to this singular agenda, they commissioned among themselves, position papers that would form the fulcrum of the transformative agenda if the political party were to win elections in western region and become the government in power. But the leaders faced a dilemma, how to inform and propagate the ideals and positions of the Action Group to a people who do not speak nor understand the foreign language. So they came up with the name, ‘Egbe Afenifere’ . The group [political party] that ‘loves you and wishes good things for you or wishes you well’ And the ‘good things’ this [egbe] party wishes you include ; [a] all school age children in western region  will now be enrolled in primary school at government expense [b] medical expenses in the hospitals for all children from birth to the age of eighteen will now be free, that is borne by the government.