Sunday 18092016

Ladipo Adamolekun
essays
A TRIBUTE:
Conversations with Anthony
Eromosele Oseghale Enahoro,
a political exile (1996 - 1998)
Preamble
The crude repression of
the Abacha
government forced this
revered nationalist to flee the
country in May 1996 to seek
political asylum in North
America. Earlier on in 1994,
Enahoro had heroically
accepted the ignominy of
detention for about four
months at the hands of the
same government. This time
around, it was strong evidence
of life threatening danger that
made him accept to flee
Nigeria at age 73. The man
who moved the historic
motion of independence for
Nigeria in 1953 was being
threatened with death by a
brass hat who was barely ten
years old at the time. He fled
the country to avoid being
tortured and/or killed by
Abacha’s brutal regime. I met
with Chief Enahoro about six
times between September
1996 and March 1998.
Predictably, there were
overlaps in the issues
discussed during the different
meetings but three of the
meetings stand out.
1. September 13th 1996: I
met Chief Enahoro in the
company of Dr. Ropo Sekoni,
an academic who was active
in Nigerian opposition
movement in the Washington
area. We spent about two
hours with him. Our wideranging
conversation was
both interesting and
stimulating. His vivid
recollection of the political
events of the 1950s and 1960s
was very impressive. He was
both frank and fair to his
political colleagues, those he
agreed with as well as those
he disagreed with. In
particular, he came across as
a constructive critic of late
Chief Awolowo, his party
leader.
His narration covered the
years of radicalism in the
1950s (motion of
independence in 1953)
through the opposition years
of the early 1960s, self-exile
in Ghana, Ireland and
England, culminating in
“treasonable felony” trial and
incarceration narrated in his
book, Fugitive Offender
(1965), to the “insider” years
within governments or with
governments from the late
1960s through the 1970s to
the 1980s. Then, there was the
return to radicalism in the
1990s, marked by detention
(1994) and a second exile
(1996-) - quite a chequered
political career. The clarity
and rigour of his thoughts and
his strong convictions came
across in the positions that he
espoused on the evolving
Nigerian crisis. I was in full
agreement with his position
on June 12 (a critical reference
point which is no longer able
to fully determine future
directions) and on the
autonomy of the regions (8 of
them), with the centre
performing a coordinating
role. He would like to see the
military forces disbanded and
a new, small military
reconstituted with external
assistance. Some kind of
radical re-organization of the
military would be necessary
but it might not be exactly
along the lines that he
advocated. I broached the
issue of his brother, Peter, who
accepted to be co-opted, first
by Shagari and later by
Babangida and his
successors. He was not
comfortable with the subject
and I dropped it. It was a
memorable meeting. I will
endeavour to meet with him
from time to time until further
notice.
2. October 5th 1997:
During a one-on-one
conversation, Chief Enahoro
provided some insightful and
interesting perspectives on
Nigeria’s political history. As
Vice Chairman of Gowon’s
administration in the late
1960s, Chief Awolowo
introduced a paper on
regional specialization in the
development process: north to
develop agriculture (“bread
basket”); east to lead in
industrialization; and the west
to lead in commerce. He
withdrew the paper because
of opposition from the north.
We talked about the restructuring
of the Nigerian
federal system: 8 regions
around ethnic nations or a
collection of ethnic groups. We
also talked about the politics
On the way forward,
he would like the
opposition
movement to focus
sharply on
mobilizing the
masses. He
demonstrated clarity
on the symbiotic
relationship between
organization and
ideas
and economics of oil. When I
asked about progress of work
on his memoirs, he replied
that progress was slow. In
passing, he remarked that one
of the things he was struggling
with was how to avoid
destroying the country’s icons
- obviously a reference to what
he would have to say about
the “big three”: Awo, Zik and
Ahmadu Bello. On the way
forward, he would like the
opposition movement to focus
sharply on mobilizing the
masses.
He demonstrated clarity on
the symbiotic relationship
between organization and
ideas. I was pleased to hear
him talk of the need to reflect
on the economic
management arrangements
that would be compatible with
the regional arrangements
that he had proposed during
previous conversations. He
asserted that the product of the
linkage would constitute a
core message of the
opposition.
3. March 21st 1998: I was
one of about one-dozen
Nigerians that Chief Enahoro
engaged in a marathon
conversation lasting over five
hours at the Lawanis over
dinner. (Ayo and Ayoka
Lawani hosted the dinner.
Ayoka who divided her time
between the family base in
Ibadan and her husband’s
work base in the Washington
area was active in NADECO
politics). Chief was in high
spirit and mixed wit and
humour very effectively
throughout the long evening.
Above all, his reminiscences
on Nigerian politics from the
early 1940s to the present were
full of insights. His sharp
memory for details (of people,
places and events) was very
impressive. He repeated his
unwillingness to provide
interpretations of Nigeria’s
political history that would
reveal critical poor
judgments, plain mistakes
and personal weaknesses of
the nationalist leaders in
whose company he fought for
Nigeria’s independence. And
he was a key figure in the
government of Western
Nigeria in the immediate
years of independence before
the arrival of the brass hats.
He specifically mentioned the
need to leave the “icons” alone
so that those who continue to
hero-worship them might not
find their “kings” de-robed.
And he made the point that
some readers of his account
would question his motives.
He listened to the rebuttals
that others and I offered and
we moved on from the topic.
Another interesting insight
that he provided was the
question of what to do with
former Heads of State.
He first encountered this
problem when he served
under Gowon and the latter’s
thoughts about transition to
civilian rule were warped by
concern over his personal role
under a new dispensation. (A
few African countries are
beginning to grapple with the
problem –Nelson Mandela of
South Africa and Ketumile
Masire of Botswana). His
thesis on the role of language
in development aroused
considerable interest. He
correctly pointed to the
salience of this subject in S-E
Asia (Indonesia, Thailand,
and Malaysia). But we did
not contrast the S-E Asian
experience with the case of
Swahili in Eastern Africa.
He talked briefly about his
role in the establishment of the
University of Ife in 1962, with
the anecdote about how a
detour to Moscow helped to
win British support, including
the removal of the British
colonial officer in Western
Nigeria whose lack of interest
had resulted in the
exploration of the Moscow
axis.
He whimsically mentioned
that with the end of the cold
war, such smart moves are no
longer possible. Alas, he is
right.
SUNDAY VANGUARD, SEPTEMBER 18, 2016, PAGE 27
Brethren, it is still September,
the month of fruitfulness. To
me, and many women that I
know, it is a special month.
It is the month of my
breakthrough which brought
about the birth of my son,
after 22 years of waiting on the
Lord. Even today, I continue
to thank the Lord for this
breakthrough.
However, last week , I
stumbled on the stories of two
prominent women that
really touched me.
First was the story of renown
actress, Funke Akindele, who
asked her fans to pray for her to
be a mother. The second was
the interview of Pastor
(Mrs.) Ibidun Ighodalo posted
on ThisDay live and culled by
City People.
Consequently, I have decided
that this month of September
will be devoted to the issue of
couples waiting on the Lord for
children. My prayer is that
God Almighty, who broke the
yoke of barrenness in my life,
will manifest his power in
the life of somebody reading
this column today and the world
will celebrate with you the birth
of your child in the name of
Jesus.
Please, believe it and receive
it.
How do I know ? Mark 11
verse 23 is our authority. It
states, ‘For verily I say unto you,
that whosoever shall say unto
this mountain, Be thou removed
and be thou cast into the sea;
and shall not doubt in his heart’,
but shall believe that those
things which he saith shall come
to pass; he shall have
whatsoever he saith”.
Brothers and sisters, the yoke
can be broken. Master Jesus
assures us in Isaiah 10 vs 27:
“ And it shall come to pass in
that day, that his burden shall
be taken away from off thy
shoulder, and his yoke from off
thy neck, and the yoke shall be
destroyed because of the
anointing”.
Note the word destroyed.
What destroys? It is the
anointing. The anointing of the
Holy Spirit is available and
you don’t have to pay for it.
You only need to connect with
the right anointing.
Our Lord Jesus said in John
14 vs 16&17: “ And I will pray
the Father, and he shall give you
another Comforter, that He
may abide with you forever;
even the Spirit of Truth; whom
the world cannot receive ,
because it seeth Him not,
neither knoweth Him: but ye
know him; for He dwelleth with
you, and shall be in you”.
The road to fruitfulness –
Brethren, the road to
fruitfulness isn’t an easy one.
It is also not for those who give
up on God. It is not for those
who spend all night
weeping. A child of God must
be a spiritual soldier. You
cannot afford to break down .
A believer must remain
steadfast with God and must be
hopeful.
This reminds me of the
case of Pastor Mrs. Olukoya,
wife of the General Overseer of
Mountain of Fire Ministries
(MFM) who had her baby after
15 years of waiting. Like
every other woman, what she
has gone through is better
imagined. Many people,
including fellow Christians,
mocked her but when the baby
came, her mockers had no
choice but laugh with her.
Your testimony will be better
than hers in the mighty name
of Jesus.
Remain steadfast, connect
with the right anointing.
Let me also share the story of
a woman who said she was at a
programme organized by the
Redeemed Christian Church of
God (RCCG) in which Pastor
and Mrs. Adeboye were in
attendance. After the
The anointing removes
all afflictions
service, the woman who had
been waiting on the Lord
went and sat on the chair
that Mrs. Adeboye sat and
said, ‘O God, give me
the ovaries of Mrs.
Adeboye since she has no
need for them anymore’.
Doctors had told her
that her ovaries were
malfunctioning . To cut a
long story short, within a year
that she took that action,
she became pregnant and
had a baby.
Let me also recall the story
of Mrs. F., a member of
Laughter Foundation
International Ministry.
Pastor Oso, the General
Overseer, had given an
assignment to members and
told them to write out their
dreams after the prayer
assignment. Mrs. F. said
someone told her in her
dream that “ you will never
have children in this
The Lord will
arise and fight
for you and the
yoke of
barrenness will
be completely
destroyed
marriage”. She narrated
this to the pastor who said
to her “Look straight at
me, you will have children
but we have a lot of work
to do”.
To the Glory of the
Almighty , Mrs. F is a
mother of three including a
set of twins.
The anointing is
available; you only need to
connect with it.
Pastor Ighodalo is right,
the challenge of waiting for
a child drains one
financially, but the good
news is that there is a God
who does not charge one
Naira, He gives children
freely because they are his
heritage.
Why the challenge?
Reasons for delay in childbearing
in a marriage are
so numerous but can be
categorized into two:
Physical and spiritual .
Experience has shown that
whereas medical science
can resolve challenges
related to the physical, it
cannot and may never
be able to resolve issues
related to the spiritual, but
there is an omniscience God
that has the capacity to
resolve ALL spiritual
challenges.
I’ll share the story of two
couples. Couple A had
been married for some time
without children. The
husband is the first son in
a family of five; the family
was not rich . Before he got
married, a very close relation
of his had gone to a herbalist
during which she was told
that when Mr. A gets married
, he will be so close to his wife
that he would not attend to
anyone else. This relation
vowed to resist this and she
and the herbalist agreed
to do something. What they
did was to stop the man
from having children until
all the other children in
the family had completed
their education.
This was unknown to Mr. A.
He and his wife began to
go from one doctor to
another . They even had
surgeries but all resulted in
no pregnancy.
Another case was that of
Mr. F. who was a human
resource manager in a
company. He assisted his
aunt’s son to get a job but the
applicant who became an
employee of his company
became unserious with his
job. Mr. F. insisted that the
rules would never be bent for
his nephew. Consequently,
he was sacked. The aunt then
vowed that for allowing her
son to lose his job, Mr. F. will
never have children that will
inherit his property; rather her
son will inherit all that Mr. F.
worked for.
They consulted the forces of
darkness and Mr. and Mrs.
F. also began to wait for
several years. In both cases,
these same relations began to
taunt the wives, calling them
men but thank God for the
women who held on to the
Lord with determination .
Thank God also for the
men who stood firmly by their
wives.
In the end, God changed
the stories of these couples
and, to the glory of the Lord
and the shame of household
enemies, these women, as I
speak today, are mothers of
children: boys and girls.
In the mighty name of
Jesus, for someone reading
this column, the Lord will
arise and fight for you and the
yoke of barrenness will be
completely destroyed.
I have cited these stories to
let readers know that many
a times, the sources of these
afflictions can never be known
physically.
Brethren, the anointing is
available to break any yoke,
but you must find time to get
connected to the right
anointing.
Be humble enough to
contact a man of God who is
gifted with the anointing
that addresses your
particular challenge and
your bitter story will change
to better story in the name of
Jesus.
Editor’s Note : Laughter
Foundation International
Ministry has a three-week
programme titled “ An end to
all afflictions” . It begins
on September 18 and ends on
October 2. Attend , invite others
and the Lord will destroy the
yoke in Jesus name.