Audio: Listen to Rare late Ladoke Akintola’s voice during the electoral campaign-1960s
Late former Premier of defunct Western Region, Ladoke Akintola in this audio led a vicious campaign in the run off to what appeared to be the 1950/60s elections.
In the video Akintola made a spirited campaign against the emerging domination of Yoruba in the political space by a combination of feudal lords in the North and the Igbos in old Eastern region.
The audio indicated a deep feeling of ethnicity that dominated politics in that era, a bug that has continued to eat deeper into the country’s fabrics.
Akintola spoke eloquently in Yoruba warning of the consequences of alliances forged by the Yoruba without consideration for their strategic future.
In his characteristic witty manners, Akintola called for a united Yoruba front to constuctively engage the political challenges of the period.
The audio must have been recorded when Akintola and the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo were yet to fall apart.
Akintola later delinked from the Action Group, (AG) led by Awolowo to form his own party that alligned with the Northern Peoples Congress, (NPC). The Nigerian National Democratic Party, (NNDP) which he formed was imposed on Western Region leading to a string of protests that heralded the 1966 coup, the counter coup and then the unfortunate civil war. Listen to the historic, epic video.
