In fact because of Operation Weti e, some people began to label the people of the Western Region as being violent; they said that we in the West started the culture of violence. And my answer was that the violence did not just arise, it arose after the democratic system had failed. So our people were pushed to the wall. And how did the democratic option fail?

The beginning of the crisis was that Chief Ladoke Akintola, who was then deputy to the Premier of the Old Western Region, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, wanted the Action Group to have an alliance with the Northern People’s Congress. Awolowo and others objected and asked, ‘on what basis would the alliance be based? What is the connection between us that will make us come together? What is the programme of the NPC that is akin to our own and can work together?’ So it was an ideological disagreement. But Akintola and others were more inclined with the idea that the NPC people were in the majority, so let us join them to form the government. Chief Awolowo felt that you would form a government with a party with a programme for the people. The question was: Is the NPC going to implement free education, free health services, integrated rural development and so on? These were the programmes with which the AG had been known. So if you are going to form a government with a party, it has to be with a party with similar programmes; even if not all the programmes, at least one or two.

Those were the arguments. But at that time, there was schism within the AG and there was prejudice against Yoruba people from Ijebu area, who had been pitted against the people of Yoruba land from the upper north like Oyo and others. It was their view that Awolowo was becoming too powerful. And more so, that was the time Awolowo had resigned from his position as the Premier of the Western Region and Akintola had become the Premier. Awolowo had chosen to go to the centre (Federal Government). The crisis went on; then there was crisis in the House of Assembly which was a spillover of the rift in the party. Akintola was then the Premier. The members of the House, who were supporters of Awolowo said to Akintola that ‘well, you can’t hold this view and still be our Premier.’ Then they moved a motion for a vote of no confidence in the Premier, to substitute him with Alhaji Dauda Adegbenro. Akintola had the backing of the Federal Government led by Alhaji Tafawa Balewa. Knowing that the motion might pass, they brought armed security men to the House of Assembly.

When Afenifere (a pan-Yoruba group) and the progressives are now agitating for regionalisation of the police, people do not know what gave birth to it. It was since that time that the Governor or the Premier of a region was head of security by name. It was the Federal Government that was controlling the police force. So the police invaded the parliament on the day that the motion was to be moved. I remember that a man from Ogbomoso that was in support of Akintola, jumped on the table and shouted ‘Fire on the mountain’ the moment the motion for a vote of no confidence in Akintola was moved. The Federal Government had brought security people to surround the parliament. Then the police rushed into the parliament and tear gassed the people.

Were the supporters of Awolowo who had championed the motion arrested?

No! They only tear gassed the place. But the action of the police was uncalled for. That was the genesis of the crisis. That was the time Balewa said law and order had broken down in the Western Region and then declared a State of Emergency. We challenged that declaration. The Chief Judge of the Western Region at that time was a Ghanaian and he was afraid because he was not a native. Justice Adetokunbo Ademola, who was Akintola’s supporter, was the Chief Justice of Nigeria. He asked the Chief Justice of the Western Region to refer the case to the Federal Government if he could not handle it. So the judgement was given in favour of Akintola. Then we appealed to the Privy Council that he had no right to do that.

The Privy Council confirmed Adegbenro as Premier. But because Balewa didn’t like that, he refused to accept that judgement. So he passed a law prohibiting appeal from Nigeria from going to the Privy Council and that the final court of appeal should be the Supreme Court. That is the origin of what we have today where the judgement of the Supreme Court is sacrosanct. So that was the situation until 1964 or so. At that time, Akintola had become the premier and Remi Fani-Kayode had become the deputy. An election was coming and their slogan then was: ‘Bi e dibo fun wa, bie e dibo fun wa, ati wole’, which means whether you vote for us or don’t vote for us, we have won. When the result was declared, they won and the people revolted against this. So that was the beginning of the crisis. It was a reaction to the rigging of the election.

This was part of  an interview withChief Ayo Adebanjo,an old politician who played active politics in the period, takes GBENRO ADEOYE through the cause of the crisis Published Inside Punch of July 23, 2016