By Ayodele Oni
Leading proponent of Yoruba Nation, Prof. Banji Akintoye and another ethnic group AOKOYA, have reacted to last Sunday’s meeting of some South-west leaders of the All Progressives Congress, APC, warning them not to stand against the interests of the Yoruba.
Prof Akintoye, President, Ilana Omo Oodua, in a statement made available in Ado Ekiti remarked that “it is a pity that in rejecting the Yoruba nation state and clinging to Nigeria, they have taken a decision which they are certain to regret.
“My prayer is that when they come to regret it, they will have the courage to change it and thereby re-establish themselves in the swelling current of Yoruba thought, Yoruba desire, and Yoruba expectations.”
AOKOYA, in it’s reaction, said that those that converged in Lagos including the APC Governors are not competent to speak for the Yorubas.
On Sunday, three Yoruba state Governors and some leaders of APC, at a meeting in Lagos, expressed opposition to the clamour for O’odua Republic.
But, Apapo O’odua Koya, (AOKOYA) a coalition of several pan Yoruba groups said the Governors are representing their selfish political and economic interests and not the wish to majority of Yoruba people.
AOKOYA, in a statement signed by its official, Col Abimbola Sowumi (rtd) pointed out that the Governors and their family members enjoy police escort and in their tinted cars, will never appreciate the irreversible momentum of the clamour for Oduduwa Republic.
“It is appalling that the Governors, who claim to be representing Yoruba people made this empty and anti-people resolution in the Month of May, exactly 34 years after the death of Chief Obafemi Awolowo.
“The Governors did not consult the people they govern before claiming to speak for the same people. Not even members of their Houses of Assembly were contacted. They spoke for themselves and not for Yoruba Nation.
“You are Governors of All Progressives Congress, (APC) not Yoruba Governors. You represent Mohammadu Buhari’s political party, not a party of the Yoruba people. Your mandate and that of Buhari is the same. That mandate is anti-Yoruba in content and form.”
According to the group, since 1999, about 20 years, all the six South West Governors put together have not been able to achieve what Chief Awolowo achieved in seven years.
“There is no industry established by any one of them since 1999 that employs up to 500 people except in their private business set up with public funds but for private profit.
“None of the States has a common cassava or vegetable farm. All they do is to prepare budgets every year with insignificant impact on the masses.”
