By Martins Adeleke
Afenifere chieftain, Yinka Odumakin has condemned the South-West leaders of All Progressives Congress (APC) for seeking alliance with the Hausa-Fulani North without content and substance. He described the action as shadow-chasing.
Odumakin who spoke to Irohinoodua in Ibadan recently said the APC in the South West will soon discover a conscious attempt by reactionary elements in the North to consolidate power and return the country into the old hegemony.
He condemns the SW APC for leading the zone into political wilderness by not insisting on true federalism as the minimum condition for the alliance that brought President Muhammadu Buhari to power. He said Nigeria needs more of strong institutions that endure, based on the restructuring of the country, than putting the country’s future at the mercy of an individual on account of his perceived moral pedigree.
Speaking with IrohinOodua in an exclusive interview, he described the alliance between a section of the Yoruba with the North as lacking in focus and content; arguing that those who negotiated the alliance did not get the priority of the zone right.
Odumakin was of the opinion that what should have been of paramount importance in the negotiation process was the corporate interest of the Yoruba which he identified as a true federal Nigeria where every component would live its civilization.
He noted with dismay that while a section of the Yoruba race wanted restructuring agenda, the other wanted change adding that the latter group was unfortunately led by somebody who was not part of the struggle from the beginning and therefore, could not properly articulate the Yoruba interest.
‘’The group was led by somebody who came to Yoruba negotiation mid-way; during June 12. I guess they prioritized what they know can never work’’, he said.
Odumakin contended that if the group that wanted change had added intellectual sagacity to their politics, they ought to have agitated for restructuring, saying what has happened was a big lesson for all.
‘’They are dealing with people they never understood. If they are conversant with history, they would have known it was a useless gamble; they lost by not insisting on what mattered most to our people as a condition’’, he said.
Odumakin, a member of the 2014 National confab maintained that restructuring was the major plank of the agreement when he worked with President Buhari for his presidential aspiration in 2011, challenging anybody in doubt of his claim to go and check the Buhari/Bakare manifesto.
On the 2014 National Confab, the Afenifere spokesman noted that in spite of all differences and clash of civilizations, the conference still forged ahead and passed over 600 resolutions adding that if Nigerians were sincere and ready to discuss, they could think through the nation’s problems, find solutions and move forward.
Odumakin, a key figure in the convocation of the recent Yoruba Summit at Ibadan, described the event as a huge success in spite of non-attendance by some critical Yoruba groups, arguing what was important was to get the majority to agree on the way to go saying that once that was achieved, then the rest would have to fall in line or fall out as majority was what was critical.
“We have never been united 100 per cent; even Awo at the height of his might, never had total Yoruba unity. Look at the summit, OPC, YCE, Oodua Foundation and Yoruba Unity Forum were all there”, he said.
The present situation in Yorubaland, according to Odumakin called for urgent and serious actions as the race, he noted, was threatened by vicious Fulani herdsmen.
‘’’We are endangered; we are threatened; we are invaded. This is not the time for careless politicization as we are infiltrated, surrounded and about being annihilated by Fulani jihadists’’, he lamented.

IssOk!!!! PDP using Biafra and Afenifere to tackle Buhari after the failure of NTA and AIT...

Important afenifere leaders have talked.... This dude whose source of wealth is drying up cuz of PMB should STFU

Yinka suffering from trumainia of the brain and election lost of his oga at the top the clueless one !!

yorubas love living in self denial, let them keep claiming that all is well with them.