ODVanguard:
Mynd44, another duplication of this fallacy. Come lock am. It has been reopened and debunked more than 10 times in less than 24hrs.


https://www.nairaland.com/3174460/bayo-adeyinka-wrote-open-letter

https://www.nairaland.com/3175794/controversial-open-letter-asiwaju-tinubu

olaitoro:


The future of Yoruba land lies in the hand of Igbos and in one Nigeria.

You can take that to the Lagoon

Aegon:
All the points raised by this man are sadly true. But it's not only affecting Yoruba people we Igbo are not left out. We live in a country where our past is better than our present in all ramifications, a chronically sick society that holds no hope for the future.

Such a shame.

Sealeddeal:
What the writer pointed out cannot be corrected without restructuring of Nigeria. The problem is not Perculiar to SW. It is a National problem.

InyinyaAgbaOku:
Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, national leader of APC
By Adebayo Adeyinka
My dear Asiwaju,

I am compelled to write this open letter to you because of the state of affairs of the Yoruba nation. Firstly, I wish to acknowledge that fate has put you in a prime position to determine to a large extent the direction that the Yoruba people will go. The indisputable truth is that one may quarrel with your politics but your sagacity is never in doubt. Even those who don’t see eye to eye with you agree that you are imbued with unusual native intelligence, uncommon people skills and unrivaled foresight. You, more than any other person, has been the game changer since the advent of democracy in 1999. It is for these reasons that I have chosen to direct this letter to you.

My singular purpose is to tug at the strings of your heart. I am not writing to appeal to partisan considerations but to see, if per chance, I can pour out my heart to you in a manner of speaking. God has blessed you even beyond your wildest imagination. You have installed Senators and Governors. You have removed Governors and even a President. You have also installed a President. There is nothing you have wished for or desired that you didn’t get. Fortune has smiled on you. Goodwill follows you everywhere you go. You have done very well- more than most men ever will. However, there is one area that is begging for your urgent attention. This area may well define you and all you have ever achieved.

This matter, in my opinion, is the only difference between you and the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo. Let me restate for the purpose of emphasis that this is the area in which the late sage and Leader of the Yorubas stand head and shoulders above you. It is the reason his name has been a constant denominator in our regional and national politics. It is the reason politicians, friends and foes invoke his name for political advantage and personal glory. It is also the reason why we can’t stop talking about him almost thirty years after his death. What will anyone say about you thirty years after you have transited?

Asiwaju Sir, you may be wondering what I’m talking about? It is the issue of legacy. According to Peter Strople, ‘Legacy is not leaving something for people, it is leaving something in people’. Legacy is building something that outlives you. Legacy is greater than currency. In the words of Leonard Sweet, ‘ What you do is your history. What you set in motion is your legacy’. You can’t live forever, Sir. No one can. But you can create something that will. Enough of speaking in parables- I shall now speak plainly.
When destiny brought you on the scene, we were enamoured because you championed the case for true federalism. It was your belief then that the Yoruba nation will fare better under a restructured arrangement than under the type of unitary government we run while pretending by calling it a federal government. Everyone knows that there is nothing federal about our government at all. If truth must be told, the Yoruba nation has fared very badly since the advent of our new democracy. And this is not about holding power at the centre.

Let me bring this home: someone passed a comment recently that he would want Biafra to become a reality because he knows the Igbo nation will survive. That comment led me to deeper introspection as I wondered if the Yorubas can truly survive. Let me cite my first example. From Oyo to Osun, Ogun to Ondo, Ekiti to Kwara and Lagos, hardly will one see any serious industry or manufacturing concern owned by a Yoruba person. I am not talking about portfolio businesses or one-man business concerns. Most industries in Oyo State are owned by the Lebanese. The native business and industry gurus who dominated the landscape- Nathaniel Idowu, Amos Adegoke, Lekan Salami, Alao Arisekola, Adeola Odutola, Jimoh Odutola, Chief Theophilus Adediran Oni and others- are all gone with no credible replacements. I’m sure you remember the tyre factory of the Odutolas and how Jimoh Odutola was even asked by the Governments of Kenya and Ghana to set up a similar factory in their countries.
Chief Theophilus Adediran Oni, popularly called T.A Oni & Sons started the first indigenous construction company in Nigeria. He willed his residence- Goodwill House, to the Oyo/Western state government, to be used as a paediatrics Hospital, which is now known as T.A Oni Memorial Children Hospital at Ring Road in Ibadan. This sprawling family Estate and residence was cited on a 15acre piece of land, 65 rooms, with modern conveniences, Olympic Swimming Pool and stable for Horses, etc.

People like Chief Bode Akindele started companies like Standard Breweries and Dr Pepper Soft drink factory at Alomaja in Ibadan. Broking House built by the late Femi Johnson, an insurance magnate, still stands glittering in the mid-day sun as an epitome to a rich history that Ibadan has. The most serious and only notable Yoruba entrepreneur we have now is Michael Adenuga. I say this quite consciously because most of the other names are oil and gas barons. Most of what stood as testaments of industry in Oyo State are gone— Exide Batteries, Leyland Autos and many others. In its place are shopping malls and road side markets but no nation develops through buying and selling alone- especially when you’re not actually producing what you’re selling.
Hypermarkets and supermarkets have taken over because of the need to feed our insatiable consumer-appetite and foreign tastes. In one instance, an ancient landmark in the form of a hotel was demolished to pave way for a mall. That is how low we have sunk. If our past is better than our present- if we always look back with nostalgia frequently, then there is a problem.

The case of other states is not different. Osun’s case is pathetic. Ditto for Ondo and Ekiti. Ogun State can boast of some factories at Sango-Otta and Agbara axis but most of them are not owned by the Yorubas. There is no significant pharmaceutical company owned by any Yoruba except for Bond Chemicals in Awe, Oyo State- and its wallet share is very insignificant. F[b]or Lagos State, more than 70% of the manufacturing[/b] concerns and major industries in the State are owned by the Igbos. If the Igbos were to stop paying tax in Lagos State, the IGR of Lagos State will reduce by over 60%.
In contrast, Sir, go to the South East and look at the manufacturing concerns in Onitsha, Aba and Nnewi. Please don’t forget those were areas ravaged by civil war a mere forty something years ago. The Igbos have certainly made tremendous progress but the Yoruba nation has regressed. I wish to state that this letter is not meant to whip up primordial considerations or ethnic sentiments but just to put things in proper perspective.

Asiwaju, I will like to also talk about the state of education in the Yoruba nation. Our education has gone to the dogs. We have a bunch of mis-educated and ill-educated young men and women roaming the streets. Ibadan, for instance, had the first University in Nigeria and the first set of research centres in Nigeria ( The Forestry Research Institute, the Cocoa Research Institute (CRIN), The Nigerian Cereal Research Institute Moor Plantation (NCRI), the NIHORT (Nigerian Institute of Horticultural Research), the NISER (Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research), IAR&T (Institute of Agriculture, Research and Training), amongst several others). Ibadan was the bastion of scholarship with people like Wole Soyinka, JP Clark, D.O Fagunwa and Amos Tutuola as residents. In the May/June 2015 West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination, Abia came tops. Anambra came 2nd while Edo was 3rd. Lagos placed 6th while Osun and Oyo was 29th and 26th. Ekiti was 11th, Ondo State was 13th and Ogun State was 19th. In 2013 WASSCE, only Lagos and Ogun States were the Yoruba States above the national average. If we do an analysis of how Lagos placed 6th in 2015, you will discover that it was substantially because of other nationalities resident in Lagos.
For proof, please look no further than the winners of the Spelling Bee competition which has produced One-Day Governors in Lagos State. Since inception in 2001, other nationalities have won the competition six times (Ebuka Anisiobi in 2001, Ovuwhore Etiti in 2002, Abundance Ikechukwu in 2006, Daniel Osunbor in 2008, Akpakpan Iniodu Jones in 2011 and Lilian Ogbuefi in 2012). Sir, there is something seriously wrong about our state of education. From the vintage times of Obafemi Awolowo who initiated ‘free education’, we have regressed into a most parlous state.

Let me talk about roads, housing and infrastructure . The first dualized road in Nigeria, the Queen Elizabeth road from Mokola to Agodi in Ibadan was formally commissioned by Queen Elizabeth in 1956. The first Housing Estate in Nigeria is Bodija Housing Estate (also in Ibadan) which was built in 1958. The state of roads in the Yoruba nation has become pathetic. Our hinterland are still largely rural. Even some state capitals like Osogbo and Ado-Ekiti are big villages when you compare them to towns in the South East. How many new estates have been built over the last decade? Even Ajoda New Town lies in ruins.

We have abandoned the farm settlement strategy of the Western Region and only pay lip service to agriculture. Instead of feeding others like we once did, others now feed us. We plant no tomatoes, no pepper and the basic food that we require. The Indians have bought the large expanse of water body that we have in Onigambari village. The water body in Oke Ogun of Oyo State can provide enough fish to feed the whole of the South West. From being a major cocoa exporter many years ago, one can point to just a few vestiges of factories that still deal with Cocoa in the Yoruba nation. 80% of Cocoa processing industries in the South West have been shut down. The Chinese have taken over the cashew belt at Ogbomoso in Oyo State. They have even edged out the indigenes as brokers.
They now come to the cashew belt to buy from the local farmers, sell on the spot to other Chinese exporters who now process the cashew nuts and import them back into Nigeria at a premium. Sir, there are only 7 major cashew processing plants in Nigeria and you can check out the ownership. The glory has departed from the Yoruba nation.

Apart from Asejire, Ede, Ikere Gorge and Oyan dams built ages ago, where are the new dams to cater for increased population and water capacity for the Yoruba nation? How have we improved on what our heroes past left us? Maybe apart from certain areas in Lagos State, others can’t even supply their citizens with pipe-borne water.
Our youth which we used to take pride in are largely a mass of unemployed and unemployable people. Have you noticed the abundance of street urchins, area boys, touts and ‘agberos’ that we now have all across the Yoruba nation? Have you noticed the swell in the ranks of NURTW (I mean no disrespect to an otherwise noble union)? Have you noticed the increase in the number of Yoruba beggars? There was a time that it was taboo for a Yoruba man to beg- but no more. The spirit of apprenticeship is dead. There was a time that people who learn vocational skills celebrate what we referred to as ‘freedom’. While that is largely moribund now in the Yoruba nation, the Igbos still practice it with great success.

The only thing we can boldly say the Yoruba nation controls is the information machinery- the press. We own largely the newspapers- the Nation, Punch, Nigerian Tribune, TV Continental and a few others. It is because of our control of this information machinery that we have rewritten the narrative in the country with the misguided self-belief that things are normal and we are making progress. A look beyond the surface will prove that this is so untrue.
We are largely divided. For the first time in the history of the Yoruba nation, religion is about to divide us further- and it is starting from Osun State. You are married to a Christian. My own father-in-law is an Alhaji. That is how we have peacefully co-existed but the fabrics are about to be torn to shreds because of poor management of issues. Afenifere has been reduced to a shadow of itself.
OPC that once defended Yoruba interests has gone into oblivion. Yoruba elders have been vilified in the name of politics and partisanship. It is no longer news to see teenagers throwing stones at their elders because of their political indoctrination. Even under the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the Yorubas never belonged to just a single party- yet our unity was without blemish. Now, our values have gone down the drain.
Asiwaju, I believe I have said enough. The task is Herculean but I believe Providence has brought you here for such a time like this. It is time for the Yoruba nation to clean up its acts. What do we really want? How can we quickly right the wrongs? The Yoruba nation is in a state of arrested development. The Yoruba nation is gasping for breath and crying for help. Will you rise up to the occasion? I am aware you understand that all politics is local and charity begins at home. Our fathers gave us a proverb: ‘Bi o’ode o dun, bi igbe ni’gboro ri’. I know there are no quick fixes but I also know that if there is anyone who has the capacity to do something about our current situation, that person is you. This should be the legacy you should think of. Your legacy is our future.

Yours Very Sincerely,
Adebayo Adeyinka


www.pmnewsnigeria.com

olaitoro:


The problem is not national egbon, in fact Southeast economy is approximately 80% homogeneous.
Proudly owned and manned by the Igbos.

The truth is bitter.

Igbos rock jor.

ODVanguard:


If not for Mynd44 wey no lock and redirect this thread, we don already treat Una fvck up wella all two separate threads dealing with the subject. If you get liver, go those two threads and tarn your opata. Obviously tbe author was spitting trash and throwing around percentages he can't even backup -- he definitely didnt do his fact check after he heard those fables from his igbo friends before foolishly throwing then out there.

You all are just jealous and bitter that Yorubaland attracts way more investments from both its locals and foreign met than y'all, so you shift goal post by claiming superpower coz no one else is willing to invest in your region besides igbos. Even U.K, Brazil,China, U.S and Hapan still seek and receive a lot of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) like Yorubaland dies today and even flaunt it so since when did that become a bad thing?? Yorubas must be doing something spectacular to attract so much investments. Go ear your heart out if you don't like it.


https://www.nairaland.com/3174460/bayo-adeyinka-wrote-open-letter

https://www.nairaland.com/3175794/controversial-open-letter-asiwaju-tinubu

olaitoro:


All this gibberish because of the truth.
My brother the truth hurts, I can feel your pain.

Go and read about Japan economy and cure your ignorance.

Japanese and german economy are as homogeneous as Southeast own.

https://www.gtai.de/GTAI/Navigation/EN/Invest/...germany/FDI/fdi-data.html

"Germany ranks seventh in the world as a recipient of foreign direct investment (FDI), according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development ..."

http://businessdayonline.com/2015/02/ogun-ikeja-top-manufacturers-investment-destinations-in-2014/

Ogun, Ikeja top manufacturers’ investment destinations in 2014

While Ogun, which is now Nigeria’s industrial hub, recorded N377 billion worth of investments within the period, Ikeja returned investments worth N39.86 billion.


Ogun State’s represents 78 percent of N483 billion worth of investments made in the whole of the manufacturing sector within the period under review, while Ikeja shares 8.3 percent.

“This has revealed that the majority of manufacturing investments were directed towards Ogun industrial axis, which consists of Otta, Agbara, Ibafo/Mowe and Shagamu industrial areas,” said MAN, in its latest January to July 2014 economic review.

....

The data further show investments in Kano/Sharada/Challawa as N19.75 billion and those of Oyo/Ondo/Osun/Ekiti as N19.2 billion within the period under review.

Anambra/Enugu that had N5.5 billion worth of investments.
while those of Imo/Abia were estimated at N309 million./b]

The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) in its latest economic review (2015) said the production value recorded by the Ogun Industrial Zone accounted for 69 percent of total production for all zones, thus re-confirming Ogun as the industrial hub of the nation.

According to findings, investors get rebates on land, good road network and better security of plants, machinery and assets in industrial zones in Ogun State. Certain types of taxes paid by these investors in Lagos are also accepted by Ogun State, thus preventing them from paying multiple levies in two states.

Ogun also has a one-stop-shop platform, where investors are given access to understudy available natural and mineral deposits, as well as agricultural potential of the state. Many manufacturers also say there is less harassment from touts in Ogun. Also, there is less traffic gridlock in Ogun and cheaper and more available accommodation for staff in the state.

In the last two to three years, more investments have moved to Agbara, Igbesa, Abeokuta, Sango-Otta, Ibafo, Mowe, Ijebu-Ode and Sagamu industrial clusters, all in Ogun State, at the expense of Ikeja and Apapa zones in Lagos which used to be the hubs of investors.

In terms of output, Ogun turned out N265.27 billion in output in half year 2015 as against Lagos’ N88.6 billion. Similarly, Ogun produced goods worth N306.58 billion in the whole of 2014, while Lagos churned out output worth N274.41 billion within the period.

Some of the new investors which berthed Ogun in 2014 were Shongai Technologies Limited, Ijako in Sango-Otta, Apples and Pears Limited, Ceplas Farms Limited, Greenlife Bliss Healthcare Limited, Sumo Steel Limited, among others.

http://www.news24.com.ng/National/News/lagos-loses-investors-to-ogun-20160209

Kestolovee95:
snezbaba, come and see Adebayo Adeyinka the "ipob tout".

ODVanguard:


If not for Mynd44 wey no lock and redirect this thread, we don already treat Una fvck up wella on two separate threads dealing with the subject. If you get liver, go those two threads and yarn your opata. Obviously the author was spitting trash and throwing around percentages he can't even backup -- he definitely didn't do his fact check after he heard those fables from his igbo friends before foolishly throwing them out there.

You all are just jealous and bitter that Yorubaland attracts way more investments from both its locals and foreigners than y'all, so you shift goal post by claiming superpower coz no one else is willing to invest in your region besides igbos. Even U.K, Brazil,China, U.S and Japan still seek and receive a lot of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) like Yorubaland does today and even flaunt it so since when did that become a bad thing?? Yorubas must be doing something spectacular to attract so much investments. Go eat your heart out if you don't like it.


https://www.nairaland.com/3174460/bayo-adeyinka-wrote-open-letter

https://www.nairaland.com/3175794/controversial-open-letter-asiwaju-tinubu

ODVanguard:
You, Olaitoro, ought to be asking WHY your region is being avoided like the plague in terms of FDI, rather than exhibiting so much jealousy and bitterness about Yoruba's attraction of billion dollar investments. By 2009, SW Industrial capacity had more than tripled the SE's, not to talk of now. The likes of Yoruba-owned and controlled Honeywell Flour Mills, GZI Industries, ProForce, Elizade, Bi-Courtney, Eleganza Group, Folawiyo Group, Globacom, NTel, Petro Inett, Modandola Group, Manucom Fishing, Aiico Insurance, Skye Bank, First Bank, Sterling Bank, GTBank, FCMB, Chicken Republic, Tantalizers, Tasty Fried Chicken, or Sweet Sensation, Spectranet, CCHub, MainOne, Oando, ConOil, Forte Oil, the many BIG Insurance companies, e.t.c, these are the REAL drivers and controllers of the Lagos and Yorubaland economy, not petty traders, spare parts and Alaba marketers. That our region is accomodating and friendly enough to attract FDI doesn't translate to a non-existent 'Igbo-control'.

With respect to SMEs, after Lagos state, Oyo has the highest number of SME's in the country, higher than any SE state. You know what SME's stand for right? And how many individuals you must employ to qualify as one?.

http://nigerianstat.gov.ng/pdfuploads/SMEDAN%202013_Selected%20Tables.pdf

As far as transportation is concerned, Igbos only 'dominate' the buses that convey their kinsmen between YOrubaland and the SE. Yorubas control the SW internal routes, e.g. When I take a bus from Lagos to Abeokuta or Ibadan, 9 out of 10 times the owner of the Bus is a Yorubaman and not an Igboman, so get your facts straight.

In a nutshell, Yorubas already dominate the Big Businesses and industries that count, e.g Finance, Oil & Gas, I.T, Telecoms, Insurance, Manufacturing & Industry, e.t.c. It would be unfair of us to dominate everything so we've left you all the crumbs like dominating the Super-Eagles, Gala Hawking , spare-parts bizness, Selling DVD/VCD at Alaba, Entertainment (though Yorubas dominate the Music scene, while we comfortably have our indigeneous Film industry on lockdown as well ), transporting your kinsmen to-and-from the SE to Yorubaland, e.t.c. cheesy Your people can keep dominating those. But even Commerce/trading sef una don dey dump that one sef for drug-trafficking.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/06/rivers-state-others-have-overtaken-s-east-in-commerce-industry/

Smh.

olaitoro:


Mr Yoruba man, co temporal Igbos are ways ahead of you in all ramifications gauged with any appropriate indices.

Don't drag Igbos to this advice given to your tribesmen.

Come to Lagos and environ, most indigenous companies are owned by Igbos aside the multinationals, Chinese, Indian and Lebanese companies.

The truth is bitter, egbon mi.

Let me bring this home: someone passed a comment recently that he would want Biafra to become a reality because he knows the Igbo nation will survive.

That comment led me to deeper introspection as I wondered if the Yorubas can truly survive. Let me cite my first example. From Oyo to Osun, Ogun to Ondo, Ekiti to Kwara and Lagos, hardly will one see any serious industry or manufacturing concern owned by a Yoruba person. I am not talking about portfolio businesses or one-man business concerns.

Most industries in Oyo State are owned by the Lebanese. The native business and industry gurus who dominated the landscape- Nathaniel Idowu, Amos Adegoke, Lekan Salami, Alao Arisekola, Adeola Odutola, Jimoh Odutola, Chief Theophilus Adediran Oni and others- are all gone with no credible replacements. I’m sure you remember the tyre factory of the Odutolas and how Jimoh Odutola was even asked by the Governments of Kenya and Ghana to set up a similar factory in their countries.

If we do an analysis of how Lagos placed 6th in 2015, you will discover that it was substantially because of other nationalities resident in Lagos.

For proof, please look no further than the winners of the Spelling Bee competition which has produced One-Day Governors in Lagos State.

Since inception in 2001, other nationalities have won the competition six times ( Ebuka Anisiobi in 2001, Ovuwhore Etiti in 2002, Abundance Ikechukwu in 2006, Daniel Osunbor in 2008, Akpakpan Iniodu Jones in 2011 and Lilian Ogbuefi in 2012).

Sir, there is something seriously wrong about our state of education.

There was a time that people who learn vocational skills celebrate what we referred to as ‘freedom’.

While that is largely moribund now in the Yoruba nation, the Igbos still practice it with great success.

InyinyaAgbaOku:

If i begin to list igbo big businesses, nairaland will crash.
Igbo transport companies are not just nationwide (who said its just SW-east), some even go to Ghana.
Stop comparing those rickety buses that go from akure to ogbomosho to interstate luxury buses. Leave the transport sector for igbos, na dem get the big names. Even Edos are better than you.

That igbos dominate commerce doesn't mean any group comes close in terms of indigenous industries, don't go there.
There are far more successful and popular igbos in nollywood than you can ever get in your place.
Academics, banking, manufacturing, Transport, medicine, have more igbo presence , at least, Bayo is more informed than you

InyinyaAgbaOku:
ODVanguard, forget it. Bayo is telling you those industries in ogun and lagos belong to igbos and foreigners.
Minus igbo taxes, lagos igr depreciates by 60%.
Xmas periods tell the story