By Ishaya Ibrahim, News Editor
As the outcome of the meeting of leaders of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Southwest continues to generate multiple reactions, the president of the frontline Yoruba self-determination group, Ilana Omo Oodua, Prof. Banji Akintoye, declared on Monday that South-West APC leaders will regret their decision to reject Yoruba nation and cling to Nigeria.
The meeting of the South-West leaders of the APC, which held in Lagos on Sunday, resolved not to support the secessionist moves by some groups.
Instead, they pledge their loyalty to Nigeria but called for restructuring.
On the eve of the Lagos meeting, Prof. Akintoye had pleaded with the APC leaders to stand by the quest for Yoruba.
Apparently, miffed that his plea fell on deaf ears, as one of the decisions at the meeting was the promotion of one Nigeria as against the advocacy for a Yoruba republic, Akintoye said the APC leaders’ decision was a wrong one.
His words: “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.”
Similarly, former Minister of Aviation took a swipe at the APC leaders on Monday accusing them of pandering to the political whims of former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, who is nursing a presidential ambition.