Osinbajo, Ajimobi, Aregbesola, others bemoan marginalisation of Yoruba nation by FG

 

Many Yoruba leaders from the South West, among them the All Progressives Congress (APC) Vice Presidential candidate, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, the incumbent Oyo State Governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, his counterpart from the State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, General Alani Akinrinade (rtd), among others, Thursday converged on Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, and flayed the Federal Government for its alleged marginalisation of the region in the scheme of things.

The occasion was the Pan-Yoruba Summit of the Yoruba Assembly themed: “Yoruba People: Our Aspirations and Minimum demands from the Central Government of Nigeria”, held at the Parliament Building, State Secretariat, Ibadan.

The summit, which had in attendance many of the creme de la creme of Yorubaland, including Pa Ayo Fasanmi, former EkitiSstate Governors Chief Niyi Adebayo, and Dr. Kayode Fayemi,
former Osun State Governor Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, Chief Adeniyi Akintola (SAN), and many traditional rulers including the Olubadan of Ibadan Oba Samuel Ogunlana Odugade I (represented by the Ekerin Olubadan, High Chief ‎Eddy Oyewole), condemned the recent endorsement of President Goodluck Jonathan for second term by some groups, on the ground that he would implement the report of the National Conference recommendations, describing it as a ruse.

In his remark, Osinbajo stressed the doctrine of adherence to truth as laid down by the late sage Chief Obafemi Awolowo, saying that the exemplary qualities of Omoluabi enshrined in Yoruba nation would be affirmed when the APC is voted into power.

“Though ‎we have been given second position, we shall not betray the trust. Yoruba don’t betray trust. We are going to hold the forth appropriately and ensure that all the vices bedvilling the nation are erased as from March 28,” Osinbajo said.

While Ajimobi said that “the Yoruba people, who used to hold their own in the compass of where Nigeria was heading, have been relegated to the background considerably, especially in the hands of the PDP-led Federal Government”, the senior advocate of Nigeria and leader of the delegates from Oyo to the national confab, Chief Adeniyi Akintola (SAN), said that ‎”the marginalisation of Yoruba is real.

The claim by some people that once President Goodluck Jonathan is re-elected, the South West demands would be addressed and the recommendations of the confab would be implemented is a ruse. No one can implement the recommendations alone. It had to be done across the zones as represented in the National Assembly. North West/North East constitute 63% of the confab, so it cannot be implemented by fiat by the president as being claimed”.

Source: New Telegraph