Osun 2018: Pan Yoruba groups back Oyetola

By Sola Oloyede



Pan Yoruba Groups under the Oodua Nationalist Coalition, (ONAC) comprising several Yoruba socio-cultural groups have expressed full support for Hon Gboyega Oyetola who is contesting for the Governor of the State of Osun under the banner of the All Progressives Congress, (APC).

A Monday statement made by ONAC National Coordinating Council, (NCC) and signed by the group’s General Secretary, David Ayelabola and made available to Irohinoodua said the decision was taken after full consultation with several Pan Yoruba groups at home and abroad, and having called an extensive meeting of various Pan Yoruba groups.

ONAC stated “We are convinced that Hon Oyetola represents the best candidate that can promote the values and heritage of progressive politics, liberty, freedom and the greatest tenets of democracy in our land.”

The group said the first term of Comrade Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola has laid the solid foundation for the reclaiming of the Yoruba heritage through the transformation of Osun from her backwater stage to global reckoning.

ONAC insist that the allegations of non-performance being levied against Aregbesola by the opposition were informed by hate and prejudice for Aregbesola’s pan-Yoruba programmes and the fact that he represents the brain box for the Yoruba renaissance.

“The lies against Aregbesola are “the figments of reactionary elements who hope that the destruction of Aregbesola will open the floodgate for the conquest and manipulation of Yorubaland.”

ONAC said that the opposition in the state is not relying on the will of the people but rather on the might and brawn of a small retrogressive people whose pasts reflect the worst forms of ethics and ineptitude.

In the past eight years, ONAC said, the APC in the State of Osun stands out as a towering moral symbol of the Yoruba people. There is no state in Nigeria that is not indebted. While many of them are in red and yet have nothing to show for it, Osun has numerous projects to justify the debts which were indeed accumulated over the years since the state was created.

It noted that inspite of the debt profile of the state, there are enduring legacies that give residents hope that these debts are investments in the future. There are indeed structures and superstructures to justify that today and the future are brighter. The debts, the group said were accumulated since the era of military rule when Osun was created.

ONAC said “Any attempt to extinguish the rays of light engineered by the foundation laid will draw the entire South West backward. The opposition, especially the PDP, the SDP and the ADP and others stand accused for having no manifesto or any transformation agenda except its reliance on violence, brigandage and brute force.

“More than any government in the recent history of the State of Osun, the APC has worked tirelessly to rejuvenate the kernel principles of the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo under the most difficult situations characterized by economic meltdown, low revenue and dwindling market of oil, Nigeria’s economic mainstay.

Is said that the APC in the past four years in Osun State has brought hope, food, security of lives and property and has demonstrated an unrelenting capacity to withstand the storm continuously being generated by the enemies of the Yoruba nation.

The entire world is aware of the great transformations in the realms of education, agriculture, tourism, infrastructure and road construction that have brought honour and dignity to the state of Osun. It is our historic responsibility to defend these gains and prevent a slide into backwardness. Osun cannot afford to go back to the oblivion given the odd tradition of waste, corruption and state sponsored murder associated with the PDP and witnessed by Nigerians for 17 agonising years. Fixing Nigeria or the State of Osun will not be a day’s job. We should not be deceived by the sweet tongues underneath of which lay bile and hemlock.

We are aware of the non-payment of salaries for a category of workers in the State of Osun, but we warn that this should not in any way justify the handing over of the state to hawks and their rookies who were responsible for bringing Nigerian on her kneels in the first place. Handing over Osun to the hawks will be worse. It will be another nightmare characterized by years of the locusts.

ONAC said it is committed to mass mobilization of the people of Osun, through house-to-house campaigns, pamphleteering, pop culture and vigorous advocacy to ensure the victory of APC’s candidate, Hon Gboyega Oyetola in the forthcoming September 22 Gubernatorial election.

“We hereby resolve that all members of Pan Yoruba groups in the State of Osun will mobilise every voter in the state, students, artisans, cobblers, farmers, hunters, men and women on the hills, in the mountains, on the plains and the fields of rural communities for the victory of Hon Oyetola,” Ayelabola said

It added “We stand in solidarity with him. We shall defend the victory with every pint of our sweat and ensure our fatherland does not fall into the hands of scoundrels whose main objective is to subjugate Yorubaland and halt the renaissance.”