Comrade Eric Oluwole is the national president of Yoruba Youths Council which is the apex body championing the interests of Yoruba youths both in Nigeria and in the diaspora. In this interview by KEHINDE OYETIMI, he speaks on the goals of the body and the progress so far.
THIS council was established about four years ago. Why the establishment and what are the achievements that you have recorded?
Our organisation has made tremendous progress in helping Yoruba youths both in Nigeria and the diaspora in understanding and appreciating their place in the scheme of things, both in Nigeria and other parts of the world. We are also grateful for other major stakeholders who have supported us with regards to our aspirations. Ooni Ogunwusi has played tremendous roles in ensuring that we do well.
We have deliberately earmarked certain core areas which we intend to focus on as we push for Yoruba youth progress. We are looking at education, employment, security and other aspects that concern our youths and the Yoruba nation.
What are you doing as regards insecurity in the South West?
We are carrying out quite a number of awareness campaigns. We are telling the Fulani herdsmen that if they do not embrace peace and fall in line, we will send them out of the South West. As a Yoruba organisation, we are bent on protecting our future and our generation. We cannot fold our arms and allow our future to be destroyed. The place of the Yoruba youth is almost uncertain in this nation. Things are not going the way we expect. We are reaching out to other ethnic nationalities who have identified the needs of their youths. We have the Ohaneze Ndigbo Youth Council; there is Arewa, Ibibio, Ijaw youth councils. There are many others. We all met recently in Enugu where we had a meeting with governor Okorocha. We discussed at length and particularly touched on the insecurity occasioned by the Fulani herdsmen. We are not relenting in guaranteeing a future for Yoruba youths. We are moving from one place to another to protect our future. We are leaders of today, not tomorrow. Many of those that we hold in high esteam as our leaders are being lost to death as a result of old age.
Dr Tunji Braithwaite invited me for a meeting sometime ago. At that interaction, he warned me that we should fight to guarantee our future. Truly, when I reflected, I asked if we are making progress as a nation or not. As the apex body of the Yoruba youths, we hold congresses and ensure that we carry our people along. We are engaging students at the higher institution.
Many people are insisting that the Yoruba is not making the desired progress as it should be. What is your message to our governors here in the South West?
I would like to stay within the mainstream of the problem of the South West. Look at Ndigbo, they have a very strong sense of unity more than the Yoruba nation. Before now, many ethnic nationalities looked up for organisational structure at the Yoruba people. We were a beacon of hope and rectitude. But now, the unity of our leaders is fragmented. It is affecting us. We are fighting very hard to ensure that the disunity does not get to us. We have the Yoruba Youth Council operating as the national umbrella body to champion the affairs of our youths. Our council was commissioned by our leaders some years back.
We are indeed glad of the ideology espoused by the Afenifere. They are still running with the philosophy of Chief Obafemi Awolowo. The same thing applies to the Yoruba Unity Forum. For me as the Yoruba youth national president, I cannot say that we have gotten to the point where we can say that we have the unity that we desire.
How are you trying to guarantee this unity?
We have set up a committee to look at the tremendous work of Pa Obafemi Awolowo. There was free education. There were good roads. There was no crude oil then, it was just cocoa. Our South West governors must go back and study the works of Chief Awolowo. They must look at his ideology and temperament. Our governors must wake up to their responsibilities in the South West. They must look at education, infrastructure. Our governors must look at our youths.
Our governors must shun party politics and divides and ensure the growth and expansion of the South west. Our healthcare has gone bad. Our youths would rise up and defend themselves sooner than expected. Many of our governors owe salaries running into months. They must use our resources to develop the South West.
Even President Buhari is not left out. He must engage the youths of the various ethnic nationalities. This is important because he would be able to feel the pulse of the people better than before.