The message from Ile Ife

Two weeks ago, I contemplated writing on the victory of Justin Pierre James Trudeau who led the Liberal Party in Canada to victory in the October 19 election. His victory seems compelling for me because of his age, 43, until Christmas day later this year when he turns 44 especially when viewed against the background of gerontocracy we have here in our country. There is also the subplot of the fact that his father was a Prime Minister too and so just like their American cousins, political dynasty finally made its way to Canada.

My intention was to use the soon-to-be Canadian leader’s emergence as a window to view the ministerial list submitted by President Muhammadu Buhari of which the youngest is 48 years, actually two of them are of that age. But, the fact that a president chooses the team he feels can work with him best put paid to the planned commentary. The announcement last week of the new Oonirisa, Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, 40 when he began jostling for the seat, however, 41 as at the time of announcement.

Even if one ignores the fact that the Ifa oracle appears now to be cognizant of the power of young people or how else do we describe his emergence at the expense of older folks including his own elder brother, the choice also represents a turning point for the traditional institution in Yoruba land, and to a large extent, Nigeria. With all its attendant problems including the often-debated issue of relevance today, it has never stopped bewitching many Nigerians who still seemed in awe of something ancient, yet still modern at certain levels. Oba Ogunwusi fits the bill of a modern king, urbane, suave, and handsome too. A true Adonis, he has already set some women crooning. This reminds me of part of the panegyrics of a family in Yoruba which translates literally that “a man goes to the river to bath and many maidens are offering him their soap to bathe with”.

The immediate past Ooni, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, Olubuse II, became king at 50 on December 6, 1980 showing that Ife people are indeed brave and audacious in their latest choice. Truly, they are the new progressives. Curiously too, his father did not contest possibly because of the fact that two of his children were in the race. This shows also that sometimes, older people must give way for the younger generation to hold sway. Of course this is not always the case in politics. When one remembers that Barack Obama became the United States president at 47 when he won election in November 2008, while David Cameron became the British prime minister at 44 in 2010, you will feel sad at what has become the lot of the under 50s politically in Nigeria.

True, political power is not given for free particularly in our kind of politics with the many godfathers that dot the land meaning that this particular generation needed to step up their game and fight for whatever they think they deserved. It has, however, not always been like this. The late Obafemi Awolowo, perhaps the greatest administrator ever in Yoruba land, became the first Premier of the Western Region at 43. While it might be a little-bit far fetched to claim that his astuteness and bold leadership as premier are solely attributable to his relatively young age, there must be a connection between innovation and the young. Risks are better taken by a young person as adulthood imposes greater awareness of dangers and thereby limit adventure. Folks who have established large corporations today started such enterprise as young elements.

It is saddening that young people are the ones being used to do the dirty jobs in politics for the older elements in our society. With their population and energy, we should all be concerned that most of the youths are only interested in mundane things to the extent that they are contented with twitter and facebook politics. Not for them the humdrum of politics with its attendant deprivation at the early stages. In 1990, as undergraduates at the University of Ibadan, we interviewed Professor Tam David-West for our campus magazine. He told us at his residence then that as young people we should never allow anybody to refer to us as leaders of tomorrow, “You are leaders of today because since when they have been saying that, have they left the stage for you?”

His words ring truer today.