We have capable elders who can lead Yoruba nation — Awolowo Dosumu

In this report, DARE ADEKANMBI captures the essence of the visit of the leadership of Yoruba Patriots Movement (YPM) to the home of the sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, in Ikenne Remo, Ogun State and the interface it had with Dr (Mrs) Olatokunbo Awolowo Dosumu.

A new political movement called the Yoruba Patriots Movement (YPM) was recently inaugurated in Ibadan, Oyo State, with pomp and circumstance. Like other Yoruba groups before it, it hopes to mobilise Yoruba sons and daughters, irrespective of political affiliations, for the singular but arguably herculean task of resetting the political order in the country, with the Yoruba nation regaining its pride of place.

To demonstrate the seriousness it attaches to the assignment, YPM, immediately after its launch in January this year, began to reach out to similarly inclined Yoruba groups and individuals who have canvassed the restructuring of the country and a return to regional government as the way out of the political quagmire the country has found itself. The template of good governance set by the Western Region led by the sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, continues to be a reference point within and outside the country, decades after such arrangement became defunct.

Led by its national coordinator, Chief Oladosu Oladipo, the group took its political evangelism to Ikenne Remo, Ogun State, home of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, last week Wednesday. The group was warmly received by the Executive Director of the Obafemi Awolowo Foundation (OAF) and co-chairman of the African Newspapers of Nigeria (ANN) Plc, Dr (Mrs) Olatokunbo Awolowo Dosumu.

Also in attendance at the hours-long meeting held in Efunyela Hall were: the founder of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), Dr Fredrick Fasehun; Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) governorship candidate in the last election, Rotimi Paseda; former Secretary to Oyo State Government, Chief Sharafadeen Alli; YPM national secretary, Professor Soji Adejumo; Chief Ishola Filani; Alhaji Alli Oyedeji and representatives of all the states in the South-West zone.

Apart from being a familiarisation visit, the one-sided arrest carried out by the police in the wake of the Hausa-Yoruba clash in Ile Ife, the cradle of the Yoruba, was also discussed. Chief Oladosu described as an affront on the Yoruba nation, the arrest of 21 Yoruba people, including a traditional ruler, who was paraded by the police in Abuja along with others as suspected culprits in the mayhem. He wondered why the suspects were whisked to Abuja without the police first carrying out investigation into the matter to identify the remote and immediate causes.

“The arrest of 20 Ife indigenes who are all Yoruba is an affront. How did the police come to the conclusion that those arrested were behind the mayhem? There is no single Hausa/Fulani among those arrested. Why can’t the matter be taken to the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, for settlement and probably reconciliation?

“Now, they are arresting the indigenes and taking them to Abuja for unknown reasons. Are they saying that Hausa people will not stay in Ile-Ife again? All they need to do is peaceful reconciliation that will be deep and wide to accommodate everybody. The inability to do that is a big mistake. We are giving them a seven-day ultimatum to return those arrested to Ile-Ife,” he said.

Dr Fasehun, who also spoke in the same vein, faulted the police for not consulting the Ooni of Ife, Oba Ogunwusi, before herding the suspects together and taking them to Abuja. Had the police consulted the Ooni, Fasehun said the foremost Yoruba traditional ruler would have deployed the already instituted internal conflict resolution mechanism to restore peace to the community where the mayhem broke out.

The OPC leader also echoed the view he had expressed at the launch of YPM by calling on all Yoruba groups to come under the YPM umbrella in order to chart a new direction for the Yoruba nation.

In her own contribution to the discourse on the need for unity among Yoruba sons and daughters in the interest of the Yoruba nation, Mrs Tola Osunde, tasked Dr Awolowo Dosumu to take up the mantle of leadership of the Yoruba nation. Osunde predicated her argument on the OAF Executive Director having the requisite credentials of an intelligent leader who can shepherd a nation peopled by equally intelligent people. She reminded the audience about how Dr Awolowo Dosumu lived up to expectation as a highly polished diplomat who did the country proud, adding that her contributions to nation-building would always be appreciated.

Responding to Osunde’s proposal, Dr Awolowo Dosumu, while welcoming the visitors, said the Yoruba nation have eminent elders and leaders who had been crusading the togetherness of the Yoruba. She stressed that these eminent leaders are capable of taking up the leadership of the Yoruba and leading it to the Promised Land.

She thanked the guests for the visit and reassured them that she would always stand for the overall development of the Yoruba nation.

The ANN Plc. co-chairman, however, frowned on the manner politics is being played by the political elite in Yorubaland, particularly the craze for money politics, calling for a change of attitude and orientation in this regard.

“We must bring back the good old days. Our politicians and their followers must stop money politics. We need a selfless person like the sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, to lead the Yoruba race,” she said.

She used the occasion to reiterate her call on the Federal Government to yield to calls for return of the country to the path of true federalism in the interest of the overall development of the country.

“Each region should have its autonomy to engender progress. True federalism will bring government closer to the people. It is less expensive. The South-West zone should be ready to take its rightful position among other zones in the country,” she added.