AS more controversies trail the politics of endorsement playing out in the build-up to next presidential election, foremost historian, Professor Banji Akintoye, on Saturday, challenged Yoruba elders and leaders to think deeply about the current plight of the race in the nation’s polity.
This is just as a former deputy national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olabode George, described the purported endorsement of President Muhammadu Buhari by some Yoruba leaders under the aegis of the Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere, as a huge joke that should not be taken seriously.
By the same token, Akintoye threw his challenge, in his reaction to the endorsement reportedly made by Chief Ayo Fasanmi-led faction of the Afenifere, of President Buhari as the candidate of Yoruba in the 2019 election.
It will be recalled that earlier, Yoruba elders and leaders, under the auspices of the Afenifere faction led by Chief Reuben Fasoranti, had at a colloquium in Lagos endorsed the presidential candidate of the PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, as the candidate the region would vote for next year.
Akintoye, who is also a chieftain of Afenifere and represented the group’s leader, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, at the colloquium, while saying that he was not condemning anybody, stated that: “I just asked everybody to sit down and think about what is happening to the Yoruba nation. Is that the way we want to leave it?”
Speaking on telephone with Sunday Tribune, Akintoye, who initially said Yoruba youths would have been the ones to reply the Fasanmi-led group, as what he and other like-minds were doing was in the general interest of the Yoruba, however, noted that it was election time and people had the right to gather together and support the candidates of their choice.
“It is young people that should be replying them (Fasanmi and others). I don’t think I should reply them at my level, because we are doing what we are doing because of everybody.
“You see, election is coming and they have the right to gather together and support the candidate of their choice. That is the bottom-line. But Yoruba people must do away with division, hatred, bitterness and so on,” he said.
In the same vein, Chief George noted that “the real” Afenifere leaders, including Chief Adebanjo, Chief Fasoranti and others, had endorsed the PDP presidential candidate, Alhaji Abubakar, who he said was a unique Nigerian that could not be hijacked by any section of the country.
George, who disclosed this in an interview, however, stated that the Yoruba people know the true Afenifere leaders.
“You know, the Yoruba say we cannot all be sleeping and facing one direction; it is not possible. Those who are with us are the core Afenifere. I have a lot of respect for Baba Fasanmi, but when you talk of the real leaders of Afenifere, Baba Fasanmi would come a little bit lower.
“So, when Bola Tinubu and co are trying now to do exactly what we did, then, we are saying, for me, let’s leave it to the people to decide and it is coming to that soon.”
Meanwhile, the vice-president, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, has declared that the 2019 presidential election matters to the Yoruba people of the South-West because the region has a larger interest in 2023, if its people vote the All Progressives Congress (APC) and ensure that President Buhari is re-elected.
Osinbajo stated this while speaking at the palace of the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi III, on Saturday.
Osinbajo, who was accompanied on the trip by the Oyo State governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi; APC governorship candidate, Dr Bayo Adelabu; among others, later held a private meeting with the monarch.
The meeting with Oba Adeyemi and some top politicians, including Governor Ajimobi, lasted for about 45 minutes.
In his address, Osinbajo eulogised Oba Adeyemi for his wisdom and intellectual capability which he described as second to none in the South-West.
“My visit to kabiyesi today is homecoming. I have never seen an oba with political sagacity like the Alaafin. I know this is God-given, because no university teaches that. Kabiyesi is a man of integrity. That is why we are following and consulting him. Everybody here will agree with me that being a Yoruba leader is not easy. That’s why leaders in the nation like Senator Bola Tinubu consult him.
“Yoruba has a lot to contribute to Nigeria for 2019 elections. It is for us, Yoruba, if you understand. It is for us. We are not looking at 2019, but 2023. If we don’t get it now, it may take some time for another opportunity to come.
“We have to look forward to that which is before us. There might be some little challenges. What I know about President Muhammadu Buhari is that he is an honest man. If he says he would do something, he would do it.
“If you love Nigeria, you will vote for Buhari. Corruption is the reason Nigeria is not growing, a reason they don’t want him. They are out again, they are looters. Don’t allow them,” he said.
The vice-president added that what the Buhari Presidency had been doing was to build a solid foundation for Nigeria’s “eventual development,” saying “if you want to build, you need a solid foundation first. What we are building will be good to position Nigeria for eventual development.”
Also, Governor Ajimobi enjoined the people of the state to vote no other party in the next elections other than the APC.
He expressed appreciation to Oba Adeyemi for his support for the success of his administration and enjoined other traditional rulers to emulate him.
”Kabiyesi is instrumental to the success and development we recorded as a government during our administration. He is a master of administration. Unarguably, this is the most intellectual, intelligent kabiyesi in Yorubaland.
“Alaafin is APC, we don’t need campaign. A king that can stand and campaign for our party; if he backs you, the world is in your support. And if he does otherwise, then, that person should watch it. We are at peace because you are for us.
“2019 is about Hausa/Yoruba, Hausa/Igbo. A bastard Yoruba will not vote for APC. PDP and other parties do not care about the masses. These are the people and party (APC) that are taking care of the masses,” he said.
Earlier, Oba Adeyemi, while welcoming the vice-president and Ajimobi to his palace, admitted that the administration of governor Ajimobi restored peace to the state.
While praying for the vice-president, Oba Adeyemi said the visit to his palace was an important step for the Buhari-led administration, assuring that the duo of Buhari and Osinbajo would return to power in 2019.
Professor Osinbajo later addressed a crowd of masses at Arena hall during an interactive session with market men and women.
At the hall, the National Coordinator of Agbekoya, Hammed Olasunkammi, implored the vice-president to halt the invasion of their farmlands by herdsmen so as to avert avoidable clash.
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