Osinbajo: Yoruba now like slaves, says Akintoye

The Yoruba leader, Prof. Banji Akintoye, has fingered a group of cabals in the presidency, who are bent on turning Yoruba to slaves in Nigeria, as those behind the current travails of Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo.

Akintoye, who observed this yesterday at the House of Chiefs, Ibadan, Oyo State capital, venue of the event marking the 126th  anniversary of the Kiriji War (the civil war that engulfed Yoruba land from 1877 to 1893), said the smoke from the fire on Osinbajo was visible to all discerning Yoruba sons and daughters.

The Yoruba leader, who was fielding questions from journalists after a special public lecture he delivered on “Yoruba: today, yesterday and tomorrow,” said: “There cannot be a smoke without fire, although we don’t know where the fire is, but we can see the smoke all around.

“Yoruba are in a terrible situation in Nigeria because all the travails Osinbajo is going through shows that we Yoruba are now like slaves in this country. So, we need to dig ourselves out of it.

“We have been hearing a lot of negative things about the Vice President in the presidency, but the important thing is for us to find out exactly what is happening. All we are hearing is just like a smoke, but we don’t know where the fire came from. So, whatever that might be happening to him now demonstrated that whoever that is not part of the people who control the Federal Government of Nigeria, is only allowed in the Federal Government on surveillance. So, the person can be kicked out whenever they like.

“There are people among those controlling the Federal Government of Nigeria who have a lot of heavy questions to answer, but they are protected by the power that be,” Akintoye stressed.

While the event was chaired by renowned historian, Prof. Bolanle Awe, also in attendance were the General Secretary of the committee, Prof. Anthony Kila; Chief Lekan Alabi and Chief Segun Odegbami, among others.

Akintoye’s statement also coincided with the reports from another meeting of the Yoruba Council of Elders, which expressed concerns over the adoption of Ruga settlement for Fulani herders by some states in the northern parts of the country, saying it may eventually spread to the South-West zone.

Speaking through Col. Ade Dansaaki at a meeting they held at the Bodija residence of Prof Toun Ogunseye yesterday, the senior elders said: “We are worried about the Ruga settlement which is taking root in some Northern states. We are worried that it may be surreptitiously moved to some states in the Southern parts of the country.

“Farmers are complaining about the antics of the herdsmen. We appeal to the government to revert to the old farm settlements across the zone. If animal husbandry is established, it should be manned by our people and not the Fulani. Any cattle trade must be undertaken by our people”, they insisted.

On security within the zone, the elders commended the six governors of Lagos, Oyo, Osun, Ekiti, Ondo and Ogun States for their courageous move to check the menace of kidnapping, banditry and other atrocities perpetrated by the herders, saying that it was not yet over because of pockets of incidents that still happen from time to time.

While backing the collaboration of local hunters, Agbekoya, OPC, with conventional security agencies, they said the arrangement would work if the local security groups worked with community police and not the Federal police force.