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.As Akintoye blasts Akeredolu for rejecting Oduduwa Nation
. Agitators doing so out of frustration, says Fayemi
IBRAHIM QUADRI
The Chief Missioner of the Ansarudeen Society of Nigeria, Sheikh Abdulrahman Ahmad on Tuesday challenged elders and political leaders in Yorubaland to speak up against ravaging insecurity and agitation for break up away from the country.
The Cleric argued that if the call being made for Nigeria to disintegrate eventually lead to war, eleders and political leaders would be held accountable.
The Cleric made the remarks during the 40-Day fidau ceremony in hounour of the first civilian Governor of Lagos State, late Alhaji Lateef Jakande at the Police College, Ikeja.
Ahmad who was delivering a lecture at the event said, “The Igbo declared Biafra, some also said they have declared Oduduwa Republic and we look like people who have no elders.
While challenging the political leaders to speak and condemn the agitation, the erudite scholar said, “This is the time to make a statement. You only play politics when you have a country. This country is being threatened. This is a wake up call.”
He added that the country is too important for country for it to be disintegrated, saying “Where are the elders and you political leaders? We can no longer pretend, nothing is well with our country.
“We are sitting on a keg of gun powder and even the powder is filled with dynamite. This is not the time to keep quiet. Politicians think of next election but statesmen think of the country,” he stated.
He added that Government has two options, either to use wisdom or brute force, noting however that wisdom must be employed.
He said, “All the bullets and armed forces will not solve the problem. Wisdom is to come down to the level of the people; wisdom is to build trust; wisdom is to avoid another Rwanda; wisdom is to avoid civil war.”
In his tribute, the minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola who addressed the gathering virtually, said Jakande had made remarkable foundation for the good governance of Lagos.
Fashola, a former Governor of Lagos State, described Jakande as a public servant who had engrned his name in gold, saying “these are some of the reasons why I describe him as a good standard of governance.”
Akintoye lambasts Akeredolu for rejecting Yoruba nation
Professor Banji Akintoye’s led Ilana Omo Oodua has berated the Governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu, for rejecting the agitation for the creation of a Yoruba nation.
Akeredolu had during the swearing-in of Princess Oladunni Odu as the new Secretary to the State Government and other Special Advisers in Akure, the state capital, on Monday, said, “No part of the entire state, known and delineated as Ondo State, shall permit any Yoruba nation gathering or agitation“.
Reacting to Akeredolu’s position, Akintoye’s Ilana Omo Oodua said Akeredolu spoke for himself, and not the people of Ondo State.
The group made this known in a statement titled, ‘Our Agitation Shall be Bloodless, Intellectually Rooted, Legally Grounded’ on Tuesday.
It stated that the agitation for the Yoruba nation “is not that of a plot for secession as erroneously branded by Akeredolu, but a struggle for self-determination”.
The statement added, “We wish to say very clearly that Akeredolu is entitled to his opinion. He has only spoken for himself. If he is sure he speaks for the classical masses of Ondo State, he should ensure that his army of state-induced terrorists allow us to stage our one million march peacefully in Akure, Ondo State capital to prove whether he spoke for Ondo state people or for himself.
“Akeredolu feeds 100 per cent on the commonwealth of Ondo State people. He is a member of the tiny neo-liberal and neo-classical elites who will never support the wishes and aspirations of the masses.
“We saw how he grandstands on the terrorists and murderous herdsmen illegally occupying the forest reserves in his state and we saw how he chickened out to the chagrine of all of us who staked our reputation to defend him.
“Akeredolu has now surrendered the farmlands in Ondo State to the government of Fulani herdsmen while masquerading to be participating in National Livestock Programme.
“We are saying for the sake of clarity that what we declared is the sovereignty of Yoruba Nation from Nigeria, and not a secession from Nigeria. We want an autonomous Yoruba Nation.
“We want to determine how we want to govern our people. We want to control and manage our resources. We want to police and secure the lives and properties of our people.
“We have made our position known. Our agitation for autonomous Yoruba Nation is legally grounded, intellectually rooted and it shall be executed without shedding of blood.
“Akeredolu cannot sit inside the comfort of his office and claimed to be speaking for the people of Ondo State that he has failed to regularly pay their monthly salary, pension and gratuities.”
