From left, Oyo State deputy governor, Chief Moses Adeyemo; chairman on the occasion, General Adeyinka Adebayo; Secretary, Yoruba Unity Forum (YUF), Dr Kunle Olajide and Sir Olaniwun Ajayi, at the Yoruba Summit, held at the Parliament Building, Secretariat, Ibadan, on Thursday. PHOTO: ALOLADE GANIYU.
Prominent Yoruba leaders of thought, on Thursday, rose from an emergency summit in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, with a threat that the Yoruba nation might reconsider its place in the Nigerian federation if the country is not restructured to reflect genuine federalism.
“If we do not see any step in this direction within a reasonable time, the Yoruba may reconsider their place in a union that cannot protect them and would not allow them to protect themselves and use all legitimate and peaceful means to attain self-determination,” part of the communiqué issued at the end of the meeting said.
The summit was held against the background of the kidnap of a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation and former presidential candidate, Chief Olu Falae, by the Fulani herdsmen and temerity of the herdsmen to return to his farm this week after his release.
The summit, for the first time in almost a decade, brought leaders of the various Yoruba groups together for a common cause of the ill treatment of the Yoruba nation in the country, particularly the incessant attacks of Fulani herdsmen on their hosts in the South-West zone.
The theme of the summit was: “National insecurity and the menace of Fulani herdsmen in Yorubaland.”
The Yoruba groups which were represented at the summit included the Yoruba Council of Elders (YCE), the Yoruba Unity Forum (YUF), the Oodua Foundation, Afenifere, the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), the Coalition of Yoruba Autonomy (COYA), the Oodua Democratic Coalition (ODC), the Ominira Yoruba Apapo, and the Agbekoya Organisation.
Nigerian Tribune
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