- Insists the prospect disgusts Yoruba nationalists and the majority of people in the Southwest
By Ishaya Ibrahim, News Editor
A former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode on Thursday took a swipe at the Southwest leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) that met in Lagos on Sunday and the resolutions reached at the meeting.
The meeting which was hosted by the Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, at the State House Marina, had most chieftains of the party in the zone, including Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the former APC interim national chairman, Chief Bisi Akande, and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, in attendance.
The meeting, which was held behind closed doors for about five hours, and chaired by Akande, also had Governors of Ogun and Osun states, Prince Dapo Abiodun and Gboyega Oyetola, Minister for Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, former Ogun State Governor, Aremo Olusegun Osoba, Gen. Alani Akinrinade (rtd), and Chief Pius Akinyelure, in attendance.
While throwing their considerable weight behind restructuring, the APC leaders strongly condemned separatist agitations and hate speeches, avowing their belief in the unity, stability and sustainability of the country.
They also threw their weight behind the position of Southern Governors on open grazing taken during a summit held on May 11, 2021 in Asaba, Delta State.
However, on the eve of the meeting which was not attended by Governors Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State and Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State, President of the pan-Yoruba self-determination group, Ilana Omo Oodua, Professor Banji Akintoye, admonished the APC leaders in the Southwest to use their clout in the ruling party to stop the mayhem visited on the Yoruba populace by terrorists.
Professor Akintoye urged the APC leaders to use the opportunity of their meeting scheduled for the next day in Lagos “to discuss the unsavoury state of Nigeria.”
Admonishing them that they owe a duty to the Yoruba nation, he said: “In the interest of our Yoruba nation and your own political future you cannot and must not continue to keep quiet while the Yoruba nation is seriously endangered by Fulani marauders, militia and terrorists that have invaded the Yoruba homeland for over five years raping, maiming, killing, kidnapping, destroying their farms and other means of livelihood and generally brutalizing your people.”
Prof Akintoye said the Yoruba APC leaders should use the opportunity of the meeting to demand not only “the security of life and property in Yorubaland,” but also that “Fulani marauders and terrorists vacate Yorubaland unconditionally and immediately.”
The statement also urged Tinubu and the other APC leaders in the region to use the platform of the meeting to demand for the right of each component Nationality of Nigeria, to exercise their right of self determination without let or hindrance.
Apparently, those requests were ignored and Fani-Kayode thinks it was a fundamental error.
In a series of tweets on Monday evening, the former minister wrote, “One of the lessons that Bola Tinubu & those with him will soon learn is that it is a very dangerous thing & an exercise in futility to move against a moving train. Those that met in Lagos yesterday only represented their own narrow mindset & band of thinking & their pol. party.
Arguing that the Southwest APC leaders “didn’t represent the position of the Yoruba people,” Fani-Kayode said tinubu was motivated only by his ambition to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari.
“There are 70 million Yorubas in the world today & Tinubu does not speak for or lead most of them. He only leads part of the APC in parts of the SW & those that are with him are mainly members of the fading ruling elite.
“If there is a referendum on self- determination in the SW tomorrow these characters would be flushed down the toilet & thrown into the dustbin of history. The way to counter those that want to exercise their right of self-determination and leave Nigeria is not to act as if they do not exist, impose your will on them, dismiss them with contempt and attempt to publicly rubbish & dismiss their legitimate concerns and aspirations but instead to try and understand where they are coming from, assuage their fears and anxieties, negotiate with them & give them guarantees about their place & role in a new & restructured Nigeria.
“Outside of that it is only a question of time before they break away and determine their own future. Tinubu does not control the streets of the SW: the Yoruba nationalists & separatists do.
“Those that met in Lagos only represent a tiny group of those in the SW. They cow tow to, beg and lobby the separatists behind closed doors and they condemn and disown them before the world. Such intellectual dishonesty, doublespeak and cowardice is reprehensible.
“Deep down in their hearts they want to break off from Nigeria as well but instead of having the courage of their convictions they tell the world otherwise simply because they want Bola Tinubu to be President. They forget that the prospect of a Tinubu Presidency disgusts Yoruba nationalists and the majority of people in the SW. Such a Presidency will not stop the the separatists: it would only strengthen and embolden them. Worse still it would be a disaster for Nigeria.”