How selfish leaders killed Yoruba aspirations, Nigeria’s economy ― Akande

The first interim chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Bisi Akande has said that some ‘selfish and greedy’ Yoruba leaders were responsible for the retrogression and underdevelopment that the Yoruba race is witnessing currently.

Akande contended that “some South West leaders in military uniforms collaborated with the North to destabilise the Yoruba political strength, marginalise its people and expropriate their common patrimonies like University of Ife, the Western Nigerian Television and the Liberty Stadium.”

The former governor of Osun State spoke at the weekend during the unveiling of Karele Oodua Logo and Investiture of Karele Oodua Ambassadors organised by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Culture and Tourism in the state.

Karele Oodua is a pilgrimage-like initiative aimed at getting Yoruba people in diasporas to return to their ancestral land to learn, understand and see what the African traditional religion encapsulates.

According to Akande, the selfish Yoruba leaders also took part in annulling the June 12, 1993, Presidential election won by Chief MKO Abiola to take him out of the Presidency of Nigeria.

He noted that “the beginning of the current republic, the same leaders, for reasons of greed and self-aggrandisement, cringed to the North and the East for political influence to continue to depress and degrade the authentic aspirations of the Yoruba people with a sermon that the Yoruba should join the mainstream politics of Nigeria.”

Akande further observed that the consequence of the actions of these Yoruba leaders in connivance with their Northern and Eastern counterparts metamorphosed into the disunity of the country and the promotion of religious conflict which resulted in the migration of the Yoruba people to the diaspora.”

He posited that the action and inactions of the selfish leaders had plunged the nation into a situation of economic imbroglio and massive exploitation of the nations commonwealth.

Akande averred that “after the independence, for reasons of rank promotions, our leaders in military uniforms collaborated with the north to destabilise our political strength, to marginalise our people, to expropriate our patrimonies like the University of Ife, the Western Nigerian Television, the Liberty Stadium etc. and to hound our elites and youths into graves and into exile for another layers of Yoruba in diaspora.”

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“And they assisted in annulling Abiola’s election out of the Presidency of Nigeria. Since the beginning of this Republic, the same leaders, for reasons of greed and self-aggrandisement, cringed to the north and the East for political influence to continue to depress and degrade the authentic aspirations of the Yoruba people with a sermon that the Yoruba should join the mainstream politics of Nigeria.”

“The consequences of all these corrupt actions of our Yoruba leaders in collaboration with other greedy and corrupt Nigerian leaders is the total crash of the Nigerian economy which gave rise to the present urban and rural slums and infrastructural decay together with its accompanied various criminals ravaging our society today.”

“The emphasis of the economic destructions have resulted in more migration of most Nigerian youths into most ugly exile to the diaspora since the beginning of this century. Each community has its criminals.

“It is a fraudulent and ungodly tradition to join the corrupt North and East of Nigeria in throwing Nigeria into economic perdition and begin to call on those of us who are innocent to give chorus to your songs in blaming the criminal consequences on a particular religion or ethnicity.”

Akande who warned that the result of using politics to generate religious wars will continue to send numerous other Yoruba youths into the diaspora in a most undignified fashion, commended efforts of the Osun State government for encouraging the pilgrimage of Yoruba in the diasporas back home.

The state governor, Mr Gboyega Oyetola who was represented by his deputy, Mr Gboyega Alabi said the motive of Karele Oodua is to preserve the rich Yoruba culture and boost the tourism potentials of the state.