Yoruba leaders from the South-West on Thursday in Ibadan berated President Goodluck Jonathan for maginalising the region under his administration, pointing out that the 2014 National Conference failed to address issues germane to the establishment of true federalism.
A communiqué at the end of the Pan-Yoruba Summit of the Yoruba Assembly, which has as theme, ‘Yoruba people: our aspirations and minimum demands from the central government of Nigeria’, decried what the leaders described as the erosion of Yoruba values and virtues.
The leaders also affirmed that the marginalisation of Yoruba people had reached the status of deliberate policy of the Federal Government.
Present at the forum are the All Progressives Congress vice presidential candidate, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo; Ekerin Olubadan of Ibadanland, Eddy Oyewole, who represented the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Samuel Odulana; Oyo State Governor, Abiola Ajimobi; Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola; convener of the event, Lt. Gen. Alani Akinrinade (retd.); former Ekiti State governors Chief Niyi Adebayo, and Dr. Kayode Fayemi; former Osun State Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola; eminent lawyer, Chief Adeniyi Akintola (SAN), among others.
The communiqué further expressed the concern of the Yoruba elders, over “calculated attempts to invade and subjugate Yorubaland, through covert, disguised and even official policies of the Federal Government.”
It added, “This was seen in the governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun states, where fake and hooded combat-ready militants were deployed under the cover of official security operatives, including the Directorate of State Service, police, and the Nigerian Army.
“Also, in the name of job creation, Nigerian youths are being trained and used for partisan political purposes in Yorubaland.”
The elders, who kicked against the absence of social infrastructure and collapse of the existing ones in the region, also expressed worry over the level of insecurity, pointing out that the resolution of the National Conference had failed to address key issues in the nation’s polity.
It read in part, “The resolutions of the National Conference failed to resolve fundamental issues that are the prerequisite to a sustainable federalism and without which the few useful recommendations would become meaningless.
“We insist that the 2015 general elections must hold as scheduled and must be free, fair, credible and transparent.”
The elders added, “For the past 16 years, Yoruba people have suffered marginalisation within the Nigerian state. The Yoruba Assembly therefore calls on Yoruba people to vote for leaders who have their interests at heart in order to bring an end to this unacceptable state of affairs.”
