Yorubaland in national chess game

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Oba Okunade Sijuade and Oba Lamidi Adeyemi

The South-West may be fast assuming its old appellation of a wild political theatre as political forces within and outside the zone are now engaged in a frantic and frenzy game of control.

A year after the takeover of the zone by the Action Congress of Nigeria, the ghost of that transition still hunts this politically volatile region.

The stakeholders in the political future of the zone are no longer restricted to the Yorubas, but Northerners and Niger Deltans also see the region as pivotal in the unfolding national political drama.

While Niger Deltans are clutching tight to pre-2011 relationships, the Arewas are looking towards a new pan North-South-West alliance in future political contests.

The deals of the past appear not properly firmed up though. For example, nothing is as yet clear as to what actually happened in the last presidential election which saw the opposition allegedly working and voting for a PDP presidential candidate. The rumour of that period was not quashed and the impression still remains that the ACN, indeed, had an unspoken alliance with the president.

Some insiders still harbour the feelings that the deal, if any, was hammered out without the involvement of South-West caucus of the Peoples Democratic Party.