12 October 2008
Lagos — For the highly cerebral politician and community leader, Chief Olorunfunmi Basorun, life, indeed, is a service lane. Olaolu Olusina writes on the new calling of the chieftain of the Action Congress and pioneer Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party in Lagos state as he clocks 70
His life is a lesson in perseverance . Highly resilient with a tinge of stoicism, he has risen from grass to grace. From a humble beginning in Igbogbo in the Ikorodu division of Lagos state, he has traversed the various theatres of life in seven decades . He fought the battles of life and won, though not without some bruises.
Reuben Olorunfunmi Basorun is a man of many parts. He was a banker and retired as a Deputy Director at the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN). A community leader, he became a lawyer at the age of 55 .
A grassroot politician to the core, Basorun was a Commissioner and Secretary to the Lagos state Government during the Lateef Jakande's administration. Twice he attempted to become a Senator and failed. His dream to also become a Governor did not also see the light of the day. Yet, he kept on taking his fate in his strides.
However at 70, the founder of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos state and now a chieftain of the Action Congress (AC) really has every reason to thank God. Little wonder then that he has decided to mark his 70th birthday which comes up on Wednesday, October 15, with a thanksgiving.
The occasion which also coincides with his anointing on Saturday, October 18, as the Spiritual Head(Baba Aladura) of the Cherubim and Seraphim Unification Church of Nigeria,Gospel-Oke Ayo Igbala Irapada in Lagos after over 49 years of stewardship in the church is significant in many ways. He is therefore moving from politics to the pulpit.
The call to serve in the vineyard of the Lord couldn't also have come at a better time for the astute politician after many disappointments and unfulfilled dreams in life . He knows this as well and is quite excited about it. "It has pleased the God Almighty to bestow on me this high spiritual honour in place of my unsuccessful attempts to be Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria(twice) and Governor of Lagos state," he said. "I have never regarded my failure to clinch those two positions as negative occurence in my life."
Basorun said he sought the positions in order to serve his people but was rejected , probably, because his services were not needed in those areas. "Now, on a platter of gold, God has called me to come and render spiritual service to His people," he said in consolation. "I accept to serve in all humility and gratitude ; and promise to serve humanity faithfully with all the energy and talents the good God has given me."
There is no doubting the fact that Basorun's experience has endeared him to some people while it has also almost made him occasionally controversial and disliked by others. And that, of course, is what makes him human.
Basorun said he would not regret the roles he played in politics even in spite of the tribulations he faced. "I wouldn't want to kow-tow unnecessarily," he said , affirming that he had to leave the PDP, the party he founded in Lagos , for AC on the request of his people.
And just like Winston Churchill said that the mark of a great man is how he handled events in his life time, Basorun said, quoting Churchill , that when arguments are long-drawn, people with limited intelligence are apt to be rude.
"As long as I am not an angel, I stand to be corrected on positions I take or views I hold on issues," he further said. "But my problem is that whenever I take a position or hold views, I always do so fact-based; as a result , I naturally want to defend the stance until a superior or better articulated argument is advanced to fault me."
Basorun is an Awoist to the core as he disclosed that it was the autobiography of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo that he read that greatly inspired him. "His decisions during challenges guided the decisions I took later in life," he disclosed. Basorun however said there can't be another Awolowo, noting that most of the politicians now parading themselves as Awoists are not sincere.
A welfarist in every aspect of the word having imbibed the late sage's doctrine, Basorun said welfarism is what the world requires. "Awoism is a thing of the mind and anybody who believes in welfarism is an Awoist," he said. He however noted that Awolowo's ideology is not only for the Yoruba as he flayed people who used Awolowo to get to the top only to move out later because of some disagreements.
"Chief Awolowo has been used by many people to rise and the only thing we can do to him is to allow his legacy live," Basorun said.
He expressed disappointment with the present dispensation, describing democracy in 48 years of Nigeria's nationhood as "governance of the rich by the rich and for the rich."
He recalled how the late Awolowo had predicted after the 1983 election that this generation will never see democracy . "Awolowo said that in 1983 and today, we are searching , " Basorun said, adding "Some of his disciples had no choice than to move round and round."
Politics , according to Basorun, now has a special definition in Nigeria. "Majority of those in the game today have joined to enable them take their share of the national cake. They are so determined and desperate that in the name of actualizing their plan/mandate for their ward, local government area (LGA), state or the entire country, they move from one party to another purportedly in search of ticket to contest election for their selfish end. Our experience in the last ten years has confirmed this ignoble and unpatriotic phenomenon as the vogue," he said.
On the contrary, he said, politics should be for "service to our immediate community, our state and our country. " He believes that either in the legislature or the executive, the thrust must be service for the good of majority of the people at all times.
"Even where public spirited people are elected to serve and they are armed with laudable programme to implement, they are prevented from succeeding by the syndrome of 'vested interests.' This is a cankerworm that has eaten deep into our body polity and virtually all those in charge of service delivery, with the exception of very negligible few, encounter this stone block in the process of taking vital decisions, all be it, in the interest of majority of the citizenry," he lamented.
The way out of the scenario depicted above , he however said , is for a change of attitude by Nigerians. "We must cast our votes for issues and not for persons. Issues must have been presented to us in manifestos of political parties. And parties must be formed on the basis of well-defined ideologies which in turn generate their manifestos. Parties should be limited to two with provision for independent candidates during elections," he counselled.
According to him, the experience in the last ten years does not support the proliferation of political parties which , according to him, only exist and operate during elections to collect money allocated to political parties by the Government.
" We must be realistic! For a united and cohesive polity, especially in view of the multilingual, multi-ethnic and multi-tribal nature of Nigeria, we must put an end to having many political parties. In order to achieve true democracy in Nigeria, a number of other burning issues must be addressed. They include the electoral system, corruption, the local government system, revenue allocation with emphasis on derivation, the judiciary, to mention a few," he said.
Such is the depth of this astute politician that many are wondering if the call to a 'higher service' would not extinguish the political flame in him. Basorun understands these concerns and has clarified that he is not in any way ready to call it quits with politics.
"Apart from the parlance that 'every human being is a political animal,' and I am a human being , I have the mandate of my organisation , the Cherubim and Seraphim Unification Church of Nigeria, to participate in politics, " he confirmed. He added that "the church approved this stance at its 2007 Annual General Conference in Ibadan, Oyo state and reiterated it at its 2008 conference held in Ikirun, Osun state."
Basorun cited examples from other climes of politicians who had combined and are still combining political assignments with spiritual service to butress his stance.
"We had late Reverend Martin Luther King (Jnr) actively involved in politics right now, Rev. Jesse Jackson of the USA and Bishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa are very active politicians, at times, holding political offices in their countries," he said. " I will not forget late Archbishop Makarios of Cyprus who led his country for many years(the 1966 military coup met him in Nigeria on official visit)."
Basorun however assured that it is definitely going to be a new era in his future participation in politics, saying "As I dedicate my time and energy to my spiritual assignment, I shall make my usual services available to my state , Nigeria and, of course, my party, the Action Congress."
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