Social critic and President, Afonja Descendants Union, Alhaji Abdulkarim Olola Kasum, tells SUCCESS NWOGU about his radical beliefs, romance with socialism and founding of Oodua Peoples Congress
What were your childhood and education like?
I was born in Ghana in 1942. My first education was Arabic education. Later on I went to a western school. The man that convinced me to go to western school was Justice Ayo Salami. We were all born in the same village in Ghana. We went to the same primary school.
Infact, he is my cousin. Today in Ghana, we see together. Although he is a big man, he became the President of Appeal Court (now suspended). When we were in school, Salami was my senior. When he was in Class Three, I was in Class One. He encouraged me to go to school. By that time I was not going to school because I could not get an Arabic teacher again. In those days, it was difficult to come by an Arabic teacher in Ghana.
So Salami attracted me to English education. I became a pupil of Bomfa Primary School, Ashanti Akim Ghana.
After sometime, Salami’s father became sick so they came back home suddenly. They believed that if they did not come home, the father might die. So when the mother was coming back, she took along this young man, Salami. When they got home, he then went to Gbosun Primary School which later became Offa Grammar School, Offa in Kwara State. I was left in Ghana, struggling on my own. I took the common entrance to go to Achimota College and I passed.
My father was a grass roots farmer. The money was not there to sponsor my education but I later went to Konongo/Odumase Secondary School.
That is where I finished my school certificate.
Was that the end of your education?
I went to take the High School Certificate. Later on, I went to Kwame Nkrumah Ideological School. It was a renowned school at that time in Ghana. It was established by Nkrumah to breed a class of principled politicians with ideological perspectives and administrative expertise to take over the government.
It appears that the Nkrumah influence affected much of your perception about life and politics?
Yes! It affected me because I became a socialist. You know the period around 1959 was a period of socialism versus capitalism. Socialism was being managed by Russia and capitalism by the United States and the western world. So Ghana wanted to change to socialism and Nkrumah was the head at that time. Nkrumah started the idea of Pan-Africanism. He wanted to unite all Africans. Infact, he brought a lot of people from Ghana to unite with Nigeria. For example, the first Speaker of independent Ghana in 1957, was a Nigerian. He is Adewunmi from Abeokuta. Also, Justice Mustapha Akanbi went to school in Ghana. He was a legal officer there. He transferred his services to Nigeria. That was one of the things that influenced his principles.
I have the same principles with Justice Mustapha Akanbi, only that I did not study law. Salami and Akanbi went to school in Ghana. Salami went to primary school in Ghana, came back home and went to Grammar School, Offa. Later, he went to Ahmadu Bello University. Justice Akanbi went to secondary in Ghana, went to London for his legal education, came back to Ghana as a magistrate. He transferred his services to Nigeria. He faced a big problem when he came here. They did not want to employ him. They said he was a Ghanaian.
This was masterminded by prominent but now retired jurists. They said that Akanbi’s father was a Ghanaian, which was not true. Akanbi is a clear Nigerian. He comes from Ilorin. His mother is from Ajikobi while his father is from Gambari family. He attended Gogoro Secondary School in Ghana.
It appears you were a ruffian in secondary school?
No! No! I was very submissive, quiet and obedient. Infact, people did not believe that I would grow up to become a radical. I went to Catholic School. I did my HSC at the Brothers of Holy Cross. I was the only Muslim man at the school.
I remember a teacher that I had, who liked me so much. Sometime when I escaped from the school to go inside the village where there was a mosque, that teacher would come there to look for me. He even sometimes carried me to the mosque to pray. He wanted me to observe my religion and be very close to God. I was very submissive and innocent.
It was later on when I came to teach in the secondary school that I met other friends who were ideologically minded and my views changed.
So was that how you became a radical?
Yes! That was how I became a radical. I was spotted by this Kwame Nkrumah group. So I went to Kwame Nkrumah Ideological School to be trained to become a minister with socialist ideological perspectives and administrative expertise. That was what Nkrumah wanted. He wanted a class of people who would take over from other politicians. He went into politics and won with some people who had no ideological base. They were the people who were loved by the masses and were very popular but they did not have an ideological base for the new socialist government he wanted to create. So the school was the basis for socialism. I was picked and I went there. I was the only Nigerian who did degree programme as at that time. The rest got diplomas. I will mention some Nigerians who went to that school. Sidi Muhammed Ali was there. Sidi Sirajo also had his diploma there. Sam Grace Ikoku was there. He was a very intelligent man. He was the representative of Obafemi Awolowo in Eastern Nigeria.
When you were in a Christian school, even though you are a Muslim, you had a teacher who wanted you to carry on with your religion. What is the message you want Nigerians to learn from that?
There is no difference between one religion and the other. We are all worshippers of God. It is our perception and approach to religion which makes people think that one religion is better than the other.
Who has ever died and come back from heaven to tell us which religion is accepted by God? It is just like propaganda in politics. One thinks that his own cause is the best way. I do not see religion differently from politics. Religion itself is an organisation. Belief is what is important. The type of people who organise or the type of the people there determines the environment of that religion.
You talk so much about ideology, politics and religion. When you were a student, did you ever have a girl friend?
No! even up till university level. I was a virgin by then. I never had the tendency to befriend ladies because that was bad.
So how did you then meet you wife?
I was grown up before I got married. I married in 1976 in Nigeria.
How did you meet her?
I met her in a Muslim way. An older friend who was a friend to my father, facilitated our meeting. During a marriage ceremony, one of his friends’ daughters was among the girls sending out the new wife. The father saw me, held the girl and said, ‘This is your wife, go and marry her’. That was how I married my wife. I did not chase girls. It is part of revolutionary tactics. Women are dangerous. They can easily set up a man. I do not see them as reliable.
You say a woman can set up a man?
Yes! Although behind every greatness of a man there is always a woman behind it, but behind the downfall of a man, there is a woman too.
So how does your wife manage your radicalism?
It is always bringing trouble. She is always at loggerheads with me.
She does not want to pull with me. She said that I would never make progress unless I follow the government. I said ‘No!’ I will make progress by following the people. The government is made up of the people. So I have made up that idea of always following the people.
I’m not against women but I stay away from women. It is too dangerous to be too close to a woman because people can go through women to get a man. I had the perception of government and leadership and what I aspired to do or the changes I wanted to bring about. I feel that if I go too much into women, they will set me up. Many people have died through that.
Your views and actions appear to be anti-government. Why did you take that stand?
No! I’m not anti-government. I’m against the corrupt activities of the government. I have never gone against government. I went to an ideological school through the recommendation of the Convention Peoples Party in Ghana. The ideological school was established mainly to promote the good of the people, to promote Pan-Africanism, and socialism which was led by Nkrumah at that time.
So you cannot say I’m anti-government. I’m not anti-government. I’m anti-corrupt government. When a government is corrupt, I cannot support it. I criticise the actions of the people and not the government. I criticise what I feel are bad programmes and policies of government.
Some people say that you have mystical powers, that you can disappear?
(Cuts in) I don’t have special or mystical powers. But people should be extremely courageous. When I joined the Oodua Peoples Congress, people said I’m a mystic and that I had the power to change and disappear and all that. I do not have such powers. My faith is in God. I believe in God. Where I have reached now, I believe I have achieved in life, not wealth-wise but in name. I have laid down solid programmes which people can build on.
You said you are a member of OPC but surprising you don’t have mystical powers?
No! No! I do not have mystical powers.
But people say OPC members are fortified; that they have spiritual powers?
No. They don’t have mystical powers. People think they have it, but it is only that they know how to maneuver. They understand the system.
It is not that they have got medicine (juju). OPC is a very disciplined organisation. That was how it was formed. It was very disciplined. I was one of the foundation members of OPC under Dr. Frederick Fasehun. OPC started at Century Hotel, Lagos which belongs to Fasehun. Gani Adams by then was a messenger. The man who was financing OPC was Fasehun. His hotel, Century Hotel, was where we held meetings regularly. Fasehun, Gani Adams, Alhaji Lawal and I were almost holding meetings. (Alhaji Lawal is dead now). By that time, I was chairman of the Afonja Descendants Union in Kwara State. The feeling was that I was holding the chairmanship of a powerful Yoruba group, so I should be a member of the foundation of any organisation that aspires to bring peace and progress to Yoruba people. That was how I became a founding member of the OPC.
Today, the main founding fathers of OPC are Fasehun, Gani Adams and myself. Because of other preoccupations, I’m not very functional in the organisation of OPC; but all our ideals and aspirations, I am still a staunch supporter of them.
So what were the core ideals of OPC?
At that time, there was a lot of injustice and oppression against the Yoruba people. So, we felt uncomfortable about that development and started strategising on how to overcome it. We said, what are they using to kill and oppress our people?
Fasheun was providing money. Whenever we were short of money, he would provide. But Adams was very courageous and very elusive. It was very difficult to get him. I was more or less their Public Relations Officer. I was publishing them in the papers.
For example when Adams was declared wanted by the former Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, Mike Okiro, I was always challenging him in the papers, giving him trouble.
When he spoke, I would answer him. I said, ‘You cannot get Gani. He is not visible’. We later told Gani to come out in public.
You said you were shot and did not sustain any injury.
I did not say that I do not believe in mystics. You asked me whether I have mystical powers and I said that I do not have it. How can I say openly that I have mystical powers? Do you want people to go and kill me on the road? I would not say that. OPC is a mystic society. The members were very powerful. But they have now depreciated because of loss of character. There are certain principles you must observe in Yoruba tradition if you want to maintain the power base which we had at that time. Sleeping with women is one of the most forbidden sins one can commit because you lose the power. Even in Islam, when you sleep with your wife, there is a special way you have to wash yourself. There is a special ablution you must perform before you can go to God. You need to be spiritually neat.
How did you go into politics?
When I came back from Ghana, I saw that our people were subjected people. There was no rallying point. There was no organisational structure. I also saw that the lack of unity and cohesion were problems of the Afonja. So I wanted them to work together and ‘fight’ their cause. With my knowledge and practice in Ghana, I set up Afonja Descendants Union. I registered it in 1974. I started mobilising my people. So people accepted us. It was Afonja agitation that liberated us from a group of people who were trying to destroy us. But now because of our agitation, (you know you have to suffer for it), they started destroying many of our arrangements. But we do not care about it. We are men of the future.
Later people started accepting my agitation. Gradually, we penetrated the government. George Eni was the military governor of the Old Kwara State. At that time, I was working with the Nigerian Herald. I was writing a column. Through the column, I managed to penetrate the government. The government started seeing me as a progressive man. So I became a friend to Eni. So eventually I pushed the idea of Afonja and the military accepted it. They raised the Justice Ekundayo panel.
Salami was the adviser; by that time, he was Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice. Another member was Akanbi Oniyangi. At a time, he was a minister of Communication, later that of Defence. He had a number of ministerial appointments. It was after the panel that he became a minister. Musa Agi who was the Permanent Secretary, Chieftaincy Affairs was also a member of the panel.
The panel went into action. They covered the entire Kwara State which by that time included Kogi. Each area they went to, they laid down rules for succession to the throne.
Was that all your experience in politics?
When Chief Obafemi Awolowo constituted his first committee for the United Party of Nigeria, I was a member of the National Executive Council of that party. We were three that served in that council.
But I was a member of the Peoples Redemption Party. I was also a governorship aspirant of the party in Kwara State. Chinua Achebe and Uche Chukwumereije were members of the party. I had been a member of the Action Group. I did not join UPN as a member but Awolowo was interested in me because of my radical view.
What is your advice to the government?
We want a radical system. There should be good governance and transparency in administration. People should feel the impact of the enormous resources which God has blessed this nation with. Government should deliver the dividends of democracy to the electorate.
Government should know that it is there to serve the interest of the people. It is meant to transform the society and alleviate the sufferings of the masses. It should not be an avenue for self-aggrandisement or where government functionaries will think that it is their turn to banish poverty even from their coming fourth generations. We should be one another’s keeper and love our fellow human beings as God has commanded us.
What type of food do you eat?
I eat natural food. I like African food a lot. I enjoy it and feel at home with it.