₦airaland Forum

Yoruba "leaders" of this generation are not good leaders.

They focused so much removing nigeria from the path to damnation obasanjo put the country into, but they didnt look into political issues as a whole. So they are seen as not good leaders.

They failed to develop agriculture, which would given them a lot of credit.

vedaxcool:

For those of us who were born before 1966, we remember that Western Nigeria had its Constitution, the North had its own Constitution, and the East had its own Constitution

He wants to live in 1966 and continue the same ideas that did not work then, now. Europe created the EU not becauae they are unity beggars as our unemployed ipob brothers will chant because they know there is strength in numbers and they understand that through these bandying together they will be better placed to compete in the global market. But we see a situation were failure in 2015 elections has become a basis for restructuring a country. Such emotional reactions clearly indicates unintelligence of the most lowest kind.

In current Nigeria under its current parameters, there is no decent security for people's lives and property. Neither is there justice and fairness both constitutionally and in the legal system for a man to seek recourse. This country is easily in the top 5 wordwide for insecurity, crime and violence and the country isn't even war torn; its in a democracy! Try to understand that not everybody will want to be part of that chaos even if you are comfortable in it. Money/economy be damned if one doesn't know whether he'll return alive from his farm.

You think this is the EU? Look around very well, sir

The old man has given us some history since history has been completely wiped out from school curriculum by agents of mischief.

bkool7:
Osun state already has a state University.
The Nation is in a recession. The handlers of Lautech should work at making it self-suffcient because if the economic doesnt improve , I am afraid things will remain the same .
You cant use Lautech to sum up his performance . What about Oyo state ? Now you are blaming only Aregbe . Even Lagos state with all his resources does not have two Universities.

Are you trying to justify aregbe and ajimobi actions,?? It is a pity bro, am not sure you read my epistle. I said we have been home for the past 2 years , am sure you are a student or graduate. Put yourself in our shoes, you might have be opportune to attend a private uni or travel out, but for we commoners education is our only national cake.
No sane leader will turn a blind eye to educational development of his state.

Am sure, you are benefiting from his administration,
Just tell him to #fundlautech.

olaniyisamuel:
*dummy... . *cursed.......

Why did choose to abused me did I offend.. you? or do you I am igbo man.. lo so ara re! Mo ohun to wi mo ohun ti mo so.. Eje ka tira wa lehin..

Dotng:
Continued

I tell you this, and maybe this is unknown to them, the Northern part of Nigeria has the best mineral resources this country can ever think of. There is gold, there is diamond, there is uranium, everything you can think of is in the North, but why are they not prospecting it?

Why?

If you can stay at your desk as managing director of one company and sign documents, and you get bribe of N100 million just for signing a document, and you tell that same man to come and establish a factory costing N100 million but will not get profit from it for the first five years, do you think the man will do such a thing?

No

That is what is wrong. They are getting cheap money. They are not used to labouring for money; they are used to cheap, easy money, they don’t want to work. They don’t have the need to work. But we are saying to them, work and then reap from the proceeds of your labour, but they say no, we don’t want proceeds of any labour, we don’t want to labour, we just want proceeds.

But some Southerners are even against restructuring?

Mention one!

President Obasanjo!

Gen. Obasanjo is an enigma of a sort. You have people like that. You can be an enigma for good purpose, and you can be an enigma for a bad purpose. Awolowo was an enigma for good purpose, for liberation, for freedom, for development of his race. Obasanjo is the opposite, and I will tell you why.

The totality of Obasanjo is a Northern product, his brain, his intellect, his orientation is Hausa. What do I mean? He has been a product of the Caliphate Army. Everything he has been in life has been the result of his being in the Caliphate Army. Don’t forget that this same man was imprisoned and was brought out by the caliphate.

But as AD leader of the House, you rallied round Obasanjo?

Yes, I did.

That was because he was Yoruba, you then did not see him from the Caliphate angle?

I did not. If you watched me on television in those days, if you asked me about Obasanjo I would tell you that the last person I would vote for as the president of this country was Obasanjo.

But when he became president you rallied to support him?

At a point! And I will tell you why.

Why?

In the history of this country, no president has ever done as much as Obasanjo has done to develop the economy of this country. We were in the woods, owing Tom, Dick and Harry before Obasanjo came. He paid all the debts, and we started to have external surplus. Who wouldn’t support a person to do that? When we saw that in him we said let’s give this man a chance.

For that reason we supported him, but there was an undercurrent going on and let me say this for the first time. Atiku (Atiku Abubakar, former vice president) was using some members of the House to undermine him (Obasanjo) on a daily basis, and we thought that was not good. That was not fair.

Were they AD members or PDP members?

PDP members! In fact, when I say PDP members, I mean top PDP members.

Including Speaker Na‘Abba?

Possibly! Most likely, probably and we saw it, and we thought that was not fair.

During the move to impeach Obasanjo you were in the Speaker’s Office when Atiku came to mediate. Is it true that Atiku had a private briefing with Na‘Abba in an inner room?

Na‘Abba is very close to Atiku. Do I need to say more than that? That Na‘Abba could have been working for Atiku? Do I need to say more than that? And we saw it, and there was no point. Everything Obasanjo did was not good. There was nothing he did that was good in the eyes of Na‘Abba. If Obasanjo was going to the toilet, it was bad, if Obasanjo was having breakfast it was wrong for him to have breakfast and it got to the point that Na‘Abba was putting posters around Abuja pushing himself as Speaker. And we said no, this should not happen and I stood up with my AD members and fought it.

We didn’t vote Obasanjo, no. If tomorrow you ask me to vote, I will not vote Obasanjo; but in those days he was doing some right things and we supported the right things he was doing. This is the typical thing about the Yoruba race if I don’t like you and you are doing the right thing I will still support you. That is the Yoruba man for you. The sense of justice is innate in us; I don’t care what anyone says.

In the days of NCNC, my senior brother was in the Western House of Assembly as an NCNC member. He was a minister in the Old Western Nigeria House of Assembly as NCNC member. That is us!

But Paul Unongo in a recent interview with Vanguard, accused the sage, Obafemi Awolowo of introducing ethnic politics when NCNC members overnight defected to the Action Group?

This is what happened. We say in Yoruba that there is a limit to your wanting to be nice to a person. If that person now wants to see you as a fool, we can say, stop there my brother; I am not a fool. What happened was that the NCNC was a nationalistic party; the AG was not that much of a nationalistic party. In the whole of Lagos, all council elections were being won by NCNC even though Yoruba were the people being voted for such as Adelabu, Fadahunsi, Olaitan. We didn’t see any difference between us and the Ibo man; we were all human beings, we were just looking at the programmes of each party.

This thing had been brewing since Zik and Awo were in London. They had these various associations, and it was Zik in one of those associations who said this (Awo) is a Yoruba man, don’t follow him and that was how that thing started. When they came back, Awolowo just overlooked it but when Zik was winning in Lagos and was now disparaging our culture…

In what way?

You know it. We tried to swallow it and pretend that there was nothing – Nnamdi Kanu is doing the same thing now. Yes, Kanu is doing the same thing, but we will pretend as if we don’t know.

Kanu in one of his videos said that if any Ibo man goes to a church headed by a Yoruba man, that man is a fool!

What did Zik say?

It is like he said that he is going to rule us whether we liked it or not. He was going to be in charge, he was going to rule the East, he was going to rule the North, and he was going to rule the West.

We said we didn’t mind you ruling the East, we won’t come there. We won’t come to fight election in the East, and we never did. So, why don’t you fight election in your own area and we fight election in our own area?

All Awolowo did was to say fair enough, this is our house, it is entirely up to you, if you are saying to yourself that you cannot manage your house, you need a stranger to manage it for you, it is up to you. He did not say more than that. What the Yoruba of those days were virtually saying to themselves was we cannot manage our home.

It is just like the UK saying, get a German to come and rule us because Theresa May is not doing well. I don’t think that would be acceptable to an Englishman.

That is not tribalism, it is you saying hold on to your turf, and I will hold on to my turf; if you call that tribalism, we take it.

What does the defeat of the APC in the Osun West Senate contest mean to you?

I am from Osun. We have been badly treated; we have not been governed properly by the governor.

Sometimes, I shudder and ask could this be deliberate? Could this be intentional? This is because I happened to know the governor and knew him growing up as a child.

I also knew him in Alimosho, nice young man and he rose up to be a commissioner in Lagos State. But are you now telling me that a man who served as commissioner for works in Lagos for eight years will not know the rudiments of running a government? Will such a person be in charge of a state and refuse to conduct local government elections? Will such a person be in charge of a state and refuse to appoint commissioners? Is that not even a constitutional aberration? For somebody to be a governor and refuse to appoint commissioners, what is the difference between being a dictator and being a democrat? A democratically elected governor who refuses to appoint commissioners, is he not a sole administrator? That is a dictator, whatever name you call it. So, what could have made this man to think that that is the best way to run Osun State?

Of course, when you sow the wind, you will reap the whirlwind. For almost eight years he has been sowing the wind and now, he must reap the whirlwind. I am sure that he is not surprised that he is losing.

Are you telling me that you don’t need commissioners to make inputs into what you do? It is unbelievable!

It beats my imagination. He is the lord of the manor, no commissioner, no person to ask him questions, nobody to make inputs and so he wakes up one day and says, I want to build an international airport!

Under normal circumstances, who did the quantity surveying? There should have been a lot of underground work before you say you want to build an international airport and commit several millions which are all gone into the drain now.

Why?

There is no airport there. I have the picture of the airport; there is only one dilapidated building standing there.

Then you wake up one day and say you want to build an interdenominational something? Have you had of government building churches? It is because he is alone, he is thinking for himself. He is thinking for himself and talking to himself. He is sowing the wind, and he is reaping the whirlwind.

How does this affect the 2018 governorship election?

He will lose(He meant Aregbesola’s candidate as he is in his second tenure).

So you think the APC will lose?

If he doesn’t lose, I will be shocked. No salaries paid, pensioners are not paid, you go and buy a helicopter for Osun State, and nobody sees the helicopter, except occasionally when you want to go from Oshogbo to Ipetu-Ijesha. By road, it is less than one hour, and you are taking a helicopter there? So, why do we need a helicopter for? What is the size of Osun State in any case?

Have you heard about the educational system in Osun State? You have heard about the opon-imo, not one single one available anymore and we spent billions on it.

All the students in Osun State must wear the same uniform. It is unfair, completely unfair, totally unfair. It is not right. I think he is not being fair to Tinubu. He has done great damage to the man.

I feel sorry for Tinubu, and I am sure he believed in him, and I don’t know what will be going on in the mind of Tinubu now. He fought hard to get him there and at a point in time, during the struggle, he gave Aregbesola his bullet proof vehicle to use just to protect him. What then can a leader do?

And now see what he is getting. Remember when they were about to do the last general elections, Tinubu had to physically go there just to rescue him. So, would they have expected him to have gone to campaign for him for the Osun West senatorial bye-election?

Or would you have expected Bisi Akande to go and campaign for him? So they left him to his own and now he can see himself. He cannot win. There is no way he can go about it. Teachers are not paid, pensioners are not paid, no roads, nothing! Let him point to one thing! He has been trying to build one bridge at Gbongban.

It is unfortunate, very unfortunate, very unfortunate.

What is the way out for Nigeria given the call for restructuring?

We don’t have a choice, and I hope that common choice will prevail. We all know that things are not right, we all know unless we are pretending. We have all been sitting on this fossil oil from the Niger Delta; time is running out on it, development is running out on it. Volvo, one of the biggest car manufacturing companies in the world will soon stop manufacturing cars using fossil oil.

Very soon, the price of crude oil will be $15 or so. Let us go by what we used to have. Let us learn how to work. Even the Holy Bible says you reap out of your sweat. Let us also work, let us begin to tell our children that they need to work. Let us institutionalise the dignity of labour; it is not here anymore.

Take all these things away from the exclusive list apart from Foreign Affairs, Defence, Immigration, Citizenship.

Give police to each region; we used to have it before. Do you know that each region used to have its own police?

Do you remember that when Nigeria was being amalgamated that the North insisted that it be put in the document; the right to secession and self-determination. But those were the things that Ironsi removed through the Unification Decree of 1966. That is where the problem started. Western Nigeria had its own Constitution; the East had its own, the North had its own. As a matter of fact, Western Nigeria had its own Agent-General in London and the house being used by Nigeria in London now was owned by Western Nigeria. We were competing. The first television station in Africa was from Western Nigeria. But now, we cannot build railways just because it is in the exclusive list.



http://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/07/feel-sorry-tinubu-aregbesola-damaged-olaitan/

chai ! so Yoruba own where buhari is receiving treatment . we need to break peacefully

Ouuch! I don't read long and distorted epistles on a good day like this.

I did not read the story, it is too long. What attracted me is the caption. I agreed with Honourable Olaitan completely as far as Osun State is concerned. This is because of the grave mistake Aregbesola made concerning the last senatorial election where he refused Senator Adeleke to contest under the platform of APC. This mistake has global impact on APC as a party. Aregbesola failed woefully. Hon. Olaitan, an indigene of Ilesa, Osun State, could not have made this mistake.Whenever I passed through his house at Ilesa (Akure /Ilesa express road), I always suspect he must have been frustrated out of active politics in Lagos after representing a Lagos constituency at the Fed House of Reps. He tried recontesting to the same rep seat in Lagos, he lost. He then shifted base to Osun State where he contested as governorship candidate in a non popular party and lost twice.

Already, there was suspicion & rumour over the death of Senator Isiaka Adeleke's death. Even angry mob wanted to attack Aregbesola when he visited Adeleke's house when the incident newly happened. His refusal to allow Senator Isiaka's brother to contest created a great damage to APC. The lesson learnt is a wasted and unwanted lesson. Tinubu and APC should never take Aregbesola serious. He cannot match the calibre of Omisore and Senator Isiaka. If Chief Oyegun had been allowed to select the replacement, Senator Ademola would have won in APC.

Back to the story of 1966 to 2003 which I refused to read because of Afenifere hatred of Tinubu and Obj. As a young man, with the repect I have for elders, because of Jonathan and the adoption of Jonathan by Afenifere for the 2015 election, I was shocked to read the two page attack of Chief Ayo Adebanjo on Chief Bisi Akande in a national daily before the 2015 presidential election because of Chief Akande and Tinubu insistence on separation of political party and socio-cultural organization. Baba Adebanjo (Afenifere leader) wrote the story of Afenifere and political life history of Chief Akande in a newspaper. As at this period, Yinka Odumakin hurriedly released is book 'Watch the Watcher' to attack Obj's book 'My Watch'. There are so many other things. At the end, they lost. It makes reading their piece a wastage of time to some of us because we know their thought and the conclusion even from begining.

NewNigeriaMind:
Don't let your emotions rob you of your senses. Go back and read a little more about the war and why Banjo advanced towards Lagos.

Until the defeat of the Biafran troop in Ore, the federal troop had not recorded any victory against the Biafra troop until then. In fact, the Nigeria army was in disarray and in total confusion on how to execute the war. Gowon initially declared police action cause he didn't plan for a full fledge war. It was after the police action failed in curtailing the baifran troops that the tactics changed. So before the ore math how can Nigerian troops launch attacks they don't even have the capacity or the moral to launch.

Ojukwu made a mistake in advancing towards ore. In fact, he had all the advantage at that time cause the federal troops were no where near the east to lunch any attack.

And don't twist Ojukwu's reason for advancing towards lagos. Read is letter to Banjo and tell
Me he was high on his ego because of the little success he had initially against the federal troops.

The advnanemt toward lagos was not because Nigeria was launching any attacks from lagos but rather to take charge of lagos. He planned to appoint a person of his choosing to admisnter the entire west if lagos was captured. Did the Yoruba complain to him or invite him to come liberate them. He should have stayed in the east as he already had control of the east at that time.

Secondly, please what about the Nigerians killed by biafran troops during that period. You all
Keep shouting genocide but you are quick to forget the massacre by biafran troops in the South South, or why do you think the south South later joined the federal troops in fighting Biafra.

Some of us lost relatives to that war. Count your losses let me count mine.

Incoherent trash as usual.You ve not countered the fact that yoruba harbored hausa in lagos to launch attack on igbos.you are moving from one arguement to another even bringing south south in to confuse undiserning reader.stop propogating falsehood.

Jabioro:
Why did choose to abused me did I offend.. you? or do you I am igbo man.. lo so ara re! Mo ohun to wi mo ohun ti mo so.. Eje ka tira wa lehin..

Dis is gonna b my last response to u on dis thread.. *preview from ur reaction to d old man's insight. Bro/sir/friend, it's not commendable. For d fact many reply wit *silly comments does not make u to tread on dere path, talk less on dis enlightening thread.
U sound yoruba, Good to know. Am a typical yoruba. And I believe our ethnicity teaches more on MORAL specifically giving accolades to our elders no matter dere wrongs. If u can't, then u pass on THAT not d manner u responded
Lastly, u were d one who initiated d curse. Am a Christian not a religious freak, so I hardly play wit such nasty words*curse. Having made u understand my intention for contradicting u *positively, I say *AM SORRY. Blessed weekend to u sir/Bro/friend....

OLA

Awon onijekuje. Greedy and political prostitutes.

Stop misleading young Nigerians.

The civil war was a Nigeria Vs Biafra war, it was NOT an Intertribal war between Hausa and Igbos with Yorubas siding with the former as many mischievous commentators on NL try to portray it.

Nwakaumu:
Thank god you ve accepted that yoruba joined hausa to kill igbo.but how can ojukwu stay in his region when you allowed and harbored hausa soldiers to use lagos to launch attack on igbos,do you know anything about warfare.ojukwu never went to attack yoruba otherwise a yoruba man banjo would not ve appointed to lead the attack,ojukwu's plan was to incapacitate the nigeria's command and control headquater,lagos.stop twisting history to suit your purpose of propogating falsehood ,the ignoble role yoruba played in commiting genocide against the igbos shall never be forgiven

oyatz:
Stop misleading young Nigerians.

The civil war was a Nigeria Vs Biafra war, it was NOT an Intertribal war between Hausa and Igbos with Yorubas siding with the former as many mischievous commentators on NL try to portray it.

Who was nigeria,who was biafra?tell us,history revisionist.

Nwakaumu:
Incoherent trash as usual.You ve not countered the fact that yoruba harbored hausa in lagos to launch attack on igbos.you are moving from one arguement to another even bringing south south in to confuse undiserning reader.stop propogating falsehood.

Bros,

Let us say the truth. I think (personal opinion) the Ibo elders are giving the young ones false story or distorted history. Ikemba is not alive but some genuine elders are alive. Yoruba never haboured hausa in Lagos to attack the Ibos. The attack on Ibos was in the North after the coup. No Ibo was attacked by Hausa in Lagos. The Ibos returned home when the war broke out. The history given by the elders has already poisoined the mind of the Ibos. The defense of 'There was a Country' a book written by Prof C. Achebe by Prof ABC Nwosu will never make any Ibo young man to have anything to do with the Yoruba. Prof Nwosu attack on Awolowo was fatal while defending the book.

babaolofin:
Bros,

Let us say the truth. I think (personal opinion) the Ibo elders are giving the young ones false story or distorted history. Ikemba is not alive but some genuine elders are alive. Yoruba never haboured hausa in Lagos to attack the Ibos. The attack on Ibos was in the North after the coup. No Ibo was attacked by Hausa in Lagos. The Ibos returned home when the war broke out. The history given by the elders has already poisoined the mind of the Ibos. The defense of 'There was a Country' a book written by Prof C. Achebe by Prof ABC Nwosu will never make any Ibo young man to have anything to do with the Yoruba. Prof Nwosu attack on Awolowo was fatal while defending the book.

So benjamin adekunle who brag how would shoot everything that moves and dont move is hausa man?yoruba need to know that no amount of lies would exonerate them from the shameful role they played in commiting genocide against igbo people.our generation must surely get our revenge on your people one.history has borne us witness.

Dotng:
Continued

I tell you this, and maybe this is unknown to them, the Northern part of Nigeria has the best mineral resources this country can ever think of. There is gold, there is diamond, there is uranium, everything you can think of is in the North, but why are they not prospecting it?

Why?

If you can stay at your desk as managing director of one company and sign documents, and you get bribe of N100 million just for signing a document, and you tell that same man to come and establish a factory costing N100 million but will not get profit from it for the first five years, do you think the man will do such a thing?

No

That is what is wrong. They are getting cheap money. They are not used to labouring for money; they are used to cheap, easy money, they don’t want to work. They don’t have the need to work. But we are saying to them, work and then reap from the proceeds of your labour, but they say no, we don’t want proceeds of any labour, we don’t want to labour, we just want proceeds.

But some Southerners are even against restructuring?

Mention one!

President Obasanjo!

Gen. Obasanjo is an enigma of a sort. You have people like that. You can be an enigma for good purpose, and you can be an enigma for a bad purpose. Awolowo was an enigma for good purpose, for liberation, for freedom, for development of his race. Obasanjo is the opposite, and I will tell you why.

The totality of Obasanjo is a Northern product, his brain, his intellect, his orientation is Hausa. What do I mean? He has been a product of the Caliphate Army. Everything he has been in life has been the result of his being in the Caliphate Army. Don’t forget that this same man was imprisoned and was brought out by the caliphate.

But as AD leader of the House, you rallied round Obasanjo?

Yes, I did.

That was because he was Yoruba, you then did not see him from the Caliphate angle?

I did not. If you watched me on television in those days, if you asked me about Obasanjo I would tell you that the last person I would vote for as the president of this country was Obasanjo.

But when he became president you rallied to support him?

At a point! And I will tell you why.

Why?

In the history of this country, no president has ever done as much as Obasanjo has done to develop the economy of this country. We were in the woods, owing Tom, Dick and Harry before Obasanjo came. He paid all the debts, and we started to have external surplus. Who wouldn’t support a person to do that? When we saw that in him we said let’s give this man a chance.

For that reason we supported him, but there was an undercurrent going on and let me say this for the first time. Atiku (Atiku Abubakar, former vice president) was using some members of the House to undermine him (Obasanjo) on a daily basis, and we thought that was not good. That was not fair.

Were they AD members or PDP members?

PDP members! In fact, when I say PDP members, I mean top PDP members.

Including Speaker Na‘Abba?

Possibly! Most likely, probably and we saw it, and we thought that was not fair.

During the move to impeach Obasanjo you were in the Speaker’s Office when Atiku came to mediate. Is it true that Atiku had a private briefing with Na‘Abba in an inner room?

Na‘Abba is very close to Atiku. Do I need to say more than that? That Na‘Abba could have been working for Atiku? Do I need to say more than that? And we saw it, and there was no point. Everything Obasanjo did was not good. There was nothing he did that was good in the eyes of Na‘Abba. If Obasanjo was going to the toilet, it was bad, if Obasanjo was having breakfast it was wrong for him to have breakfast and it got to the point that Na‘Abba was putting posters around Abuja pushing himself as Speaker. And we said no, this should not happen and I stood up with my AD members and fought it.

We didn’t vote Obasanjo, no. If tomorrow you ask me to vote, I will not vote Obasanjo; but in those days he was doing some right things and we supported the right things he was doing. This is the typical thing about the Yoruba race if I don’t like you and you are doing the right thing I will still support you. That is the Yoruba man for you. The sense of justice is innate in us; I don’t care what anyone says.

In the days of NCNC, my senior brother was in the Western House of Assembly as an NCNC member. He was a minister in the Old Western Nigeria House of Assembly as NCNC member. That is us!

But Paul Unongo in a recent interview with Vanguard, accused the sage, Obafemi Awolowo of introducing ethnic politics when NCNC members overnight defected to the Action Group?

This is what happened. We say in Yoruba that there is a limit to your wanting to be nice to a person. If that person now wants to see you as a fool, we can say, stop there my brother; I am not a fool. What happened was that the NCNC was a nationalistic party; the AG was not that much of a nationalistic party. In the whole of Lagos, all council elections were being won by NCNC even though Yoruba were the people being voted for such as Adelabu, Fadahunsi, Olaitan. We didn’t see any difference between us and the Ibo man; we were all human beings, we were just looking at the programmes of each party.

This thing had been brewing since Zik and Awo were in London. They had these various associations, and it was Zik in one of those associations who said this (Awo) is a Yoruba man, don’t follow him and that was how that thing started. When they came back, Awolowo just overlooked it but when Zik was winning in Lagos and was now disparaging our culture…

In what way?

You know it. We tried to swallow it and pretend that there was nothing – Nnamdi Kanu is doing the same thing now. Yes, Kanu is doing the same thing, but we will pretend as if we don’t know.

Kanu in one of his videos said that if any Ibo man goes to a church headed by a Yoruba man, that man is a fool!

What did Zik say?

It is like he said that he is going to rule us whether we liked it or not. He was going to be in charge, he was going to rule the East, he was going to rule the North, and he was going to rule the West.

We said we didn’t mind you ruling the East, we won’t come there. We won’t come to fight election in the East, and we never did. So, why don’t you fight election in your own area and we fight election in our own area?

All Awolowo did was to say fair enough, this is our house, it is entirely up to you, if you are saying to yourself that you cannot manage your house, you need a stranger to manage it for you, it is up to you. He did not say more than that. What the Yoruba of those days were virtually saying to themselves was we cannot manage our home.

It is just like the UK saying, get a German to come and rule us because Theresa May is not doing well. I don’t think that would be acceptable to an Englishman.

That is not tribalism, it is you saying hold on to your turf, and I will hold on to my turf; if you call that tribalism, we take it.

What does the defeat of the APC in the Osun West Senate contest mean to you?

I am from Osun. We have been badly treated; we have not been governed properly by the governor.

Sometimes, I shudder and ask could this be deliberate? Could this be intentional? This is because I happened to know the governor and knew him growing up as a child.

I also knew him in Alimosho, nice young man and he rose up to be a commissioner in Lagos State. But are you now telling me that a man who served as commissioner for works in Lagos for eight years will not know the rudiments of running a government? Will such a person be in charge of a state and refuse to conduct local government elections? Will such a person be in charge of a state and refuse to appoint commissioners? Is that not even a constitutional aberration? For somebody to be a governor and refuse to appoint commissioners, what is the difference between being a dictator and being a democrat? A democratically elected governor who refuses to appoint commissioners, is he not a sole administrator? That is a dictator, whatever name you call it. So, what could have made this man to think that that is the best way to run Osun State?

Of course, when you sow the wind, you will reap the whirlwind. For almost eight years he has been sowing the wind and now, he must reap the whirlwind. I am sure that he is not surprised that he is losing.

Are you telling me that you don’t need commissioners to make inputs into what you do? It is unbelievable!

It beats my imagination. He is the lord of the manor, no commissioner, no person to ask him questions, nobody to make inputs and so he wakes up one day and says, I want to build an international airport!

Under normal circumstances, who did the quantity surveying? There should have been a lot of underground work before you say you want to build an international airport and commit several millions which are all gone into the drain now.

Why?

There is no airport there. I have the picture of the airport; there is only one dilapidated building standing there.

Then you wake up one day and say you want to build an interdenominational something? Have you had of government building churches? It is because he is alone, he is thinking for himself. He is thinking for himself and talking to himself. He is sowing the wind, and he is reaping the whirlwind.

How does this affect the 2018 governorship election?

He will lose(He meant Aregbesola’s candidate as he is in his second tenure).

So you think the APC will lose?

If he doesn’t lose, I will be shocked. No salaries paid, pensioners are not paid, you go and buy a helicopter for Osun State, and nobody sees the helicopter, except occasionally when you want to go from Oshogbo to Ipetu-Ijesha. By road, it is less than one hour, and you are taking a helicopter there? So, why do we need a helicopter for? What is the size of Osun State in any case?

Have you heard about the educational system in Osun State? You have heard about the opon-imo, not one single one available anymore and we spent billions on it.

All the students in Osun State must wear the same uniform. It is unfair, completely unfair, totally unfair. It is not right. I think he is not being fair to Tinubu. He has done great damage to the man.

I feel sorry for Tinubu, and I am sure he believed in him, and I don’t know what will be going on in the mind of Tinubu now. He fought hard to get him there and at a point in time, during the struggle, he gave Aregbesola his bullet proof vehicle to use just to protect him. What then can a leader do?

And now see what he is getting. Remember when they were about to do the last general elections, Tinubu had to physically go there just to rescue him. So, would they have expected him to have gone to campaign for him for the Osun West senatorial bye-election?

Or would you have expected Bisi Akande to go and campaign for him? So they left him to his own and now he can see himself. He cannot win. There is no way he can go about it. Teachers are not paid, pensioners are not paid, no roads, nothing! Let him point to one thing! He has been trying to build one bridge at Gbongban.

It is unfortunate, very unfortunate, very unfortunate.

What is the way out for Nigeria given the call for restructuring?

We don’t have a choice, and I hope that common choice will prevail. We all know that things are not right, we all know unless we are pretending. We have all been sitting on this fossil oil from the Niger Delta; time is running out on it, development is running out on it. Volvo, one of the biggest car manufacturing companies in the world will soon stop manufacturing cars using fossil oil.

Very soon, the price of crude oil will be $15 or so. Let us go by what we used to have. Let us learn how to work. Even the Holy Bible says you reap out of your sweat. Let us also work, let us begin to tell our children that they need to work. Let us institutionalise the dignity of labour; it is not here anymore.

Take all these things away from the exclusive list apart from Foreign Affairs, Defence, Immigration, Citizenship.

Give police to each region; we used to have it before. Do you know that each region used to have its own police?

Do you remember that when Nigeria was being amalgamated that the North insisted that it be put in the document; the right to secession and self-determination. But those were the things that Ironsi removed through the Unification Decree of 1966. That is where the problem started. Western Nigeria had its own Constitution; the East had its own, the North had its own. As a matter of fact, Western Nigeria had its own Agent-General in London and the house being used by Nigeria in London now was owned by Western Nigeria. We were competing. The first television station in Africa was from Western Nigeria. But now, we cannot build railways just because it is in the exclusive list.



http://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/07/feel-sorry-tinubu-aregbesola-damaged-olaitan/

We have always been endangered from time immemorial. Even Luggard didn’t like us from amalgamation. They didn’t hide it because when the colonialists came, with tremendous respect to the minorities, they saw three of us – they knew the Hausa very well, and they didn’t hide it, and in some of their declassified documents, they wrote that they were uneducated and could be pushed around, so they had no problem with them.

CharlotteFlair:
Bashydemy, Osun state is in the news again, all for the wrong reasons. Wetin consain me sef.

LOL who is Olaitan? He is irrelevant when it comes to South West Politics hahha..

Many won't the intense sense in this insightful interview while some will! In the 'Nigeria project', the South must turn the table to be advantageous eternally not being a pun in the Nigeria game in the hand of the North. My perspective though.

Back to business, if you are interested in 4mn quick cash loan, contact RenMoney. No guarantor, zero collateral and no hassle. Call/whatsup Ogaga @08159385912 for details. Thanks.

This wan na Afonja news am not interested.

vedaxcool:

For those of us who were born before 1966, we remember that Western Nigeria had its Constitution, the North had its own Constitution, and the East had its own Constitution

He wants to live in 1966 and continue the same ideas that did not work then, now. Europe created the EU not becauae they are unity beggars as our unemployed ipob brothers will chant because they know there is strength in numbers and they understand that through these bandying together they will be better placed to compete in the global market. But we see a situation were failure in 2015 elections has become a basis for restructuring a country. Such emotional reactions clearly indicates unintelligence of the most lowest kind.

And England is breaking away from this "assumed wonderful union" and you think you are more intelligent or more politically exposed than those that voted for BREXIT??

every tom dick and Harry knw that Awolowo is a coward a saboteur , rattle snake and a deceiver, is not even to day he started begging for Unity, he is a coward who can not look his enemy in the eyeball to eyeball he is a weak vessel, a loosed, how can he be this stupid to pitch tent with an enemy that hate him so much, no wonder he died a very miserable, lonely painful slow death..

On the Nigerian side:
Head of State : Gen Gowon (Not Hausa)
Chief of Staff: Admiral Wey(Not Hausa)
Chief of Army staff: David Ejoor ((Not Hausa)
Gen Officer, 1 division Nigerian army: Col Muhammadu Shuwa (Not Hausa)
GOC, 3 rd Marine commando : Col Benjamin Adekunle(Not Hausa)
Commander, motorized brigade: Col Murtalar Muhammed (Not Hausa) ...

The Biafrans can bring their list.

If your level of education is such that you believe those who fought on Nigerian side were Hausa tribal warriors joined by Yoruba tribal warriors while those who fought on Biafran side were Igbo tribal warriors, then there is nothing I can do to help you.

Nwakaumu:
Who was nigeria,who was biafra?tell us,history revisionist.

Nwakaumu:
So benjamin adekunle who brag how would shoot everything that moves and dont move is hausa man?yoruba need to know that no amount of lies would exonerate them from the shameful role they played in commiting genocide against igbo people.our generation must surely get our revenge on your people one.history has borne us witness.

You said they haboured Hausa to attack your people in Lagos. I just clarified the issue that it never happened. Now, you brought an unconfirmed war front statement. The war front is at the creek (3rd Marine Commando), and not Lagos but old Rivers / Eastern area. I am waiting for the time your generation will come and revenge on my generation. If you have that mindset, why are you on our land? No wo
nder you are given quit notice in the North. Remember, you people came here with nothing. If the God of the land has been good to have prospered you and you have the mind of committing genocide, then you may be getting set to leave with nothing.

babaolofin:
You said they haboured Hausa to attack your people in Lagos. I just clarified the issue that it never happened. Now, you brought an unconfirmed war front statement. The war front is at the creek (3rd Marine Commando), and not Lagos but old Rivers / Eastern area. I am waiting for the time your generation will come and revenge on my generation. If you have that mindset, why are you on our land? No wo
nder you are given quit notice in the North. Remember, you people came here with nothing. If the God of the land has been good to have prospered you and you have the mind of committing genocide, then you may be getting set to leave with nothing.

Keep runing around.who does not know that nigeria military headquater was in lagos,dodan barack.yoruba people have a bitter date with history, you can go on lieing to urself.

oyatz:
On the Nigerian side:
Head of State : Gen Gowon (Not Hausa)
Chief of Staff: Admiral Wey(Not Hausa)
Chief of Army staff: David Ejoor ((Not Hausa)
Gen Officer, 1 division Nigerian army: Col Muhammadu Shuwa (Not Hausa)
GOC, 3 rd Marine commando : Col Benjamin Adekunle(Not Hausa)
Commander, motorized brigade: Col Murtalar Muhammed (Not Hausa) ...

The Biafrans can bring their list.

If your level of education is such that you believe those who fought on Nigerian side were Hausa tribal warriors joined by Yoruba tribal warriors while those who fought on Biafran side were Igbo tribal warriors, then there is nothing I can do to help you.

With the names you listed here,is not obvious to you that the so called nigeria were hausa-fulani and their yoruba slave?.

Relax bros, take two criminally chilled bottles of Orijin from Mama Nnkechi shop step down with nnkwobi...we are in 2017, not the 1960s, forget this hatred for the Yoruba people , the world has gone beyond what you are thinking

Nwakaumu:
Keep qruning around.who does not know that nigeria military headquater was in lagos,dodan barack.yoruba people have a bitter date with history, you can go on lieing to urself.

Dotng:
I feel sorry for Tinubu, Aregbesola has damaged him – Olaitan


…How Zik provoked Yoruba NCNC MPs to defect to AG •Says APC wasn’t prepared for governance
…Catholic Schools: The legal trick Jakande used to defeat Okogie

By Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor

Hon. Oladipo Olaitan, the National Financial Secretary of Afenifere, the apex Yoruba socio-cultural body was at the inception of the Fourth Republic, the leader of the Alliance for Democracy in the House of Representatives, a prime position that gave him opportunity into the affairs of the nation at that time.

Before then, the lawyer turned politician and property tycoon had served Governor Lateef Jakande in Lagos State in various capacities between 1979 and 1983 including as Political Adviser, Security Adviser and Legal Adviser.

In this interview he gives the Yoruba perspective of the crisis that prompted the mass defection of NCNC members to the AG on the floor of the Western House of Assembly in 1951, why the Yoruba are standing with the Igbo against the expulsion threat by the Arewa Youths, why AD members stood with President Olusegun Obasanjo against alleged conspiracies weaved by his deputy.

The Osun born politician also ventilates his position on the pace and pattern of governance in his home state with a damning prediction on the prospects of the incumbent governor of the state, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola.

Excerpts:

What prompted your career choice in law and politics?

When I was growing up, there was this practise of some officials going to waylay farmers on their way from farm, and they would round them up and take them to the D.O’s (District Officer’s) office for the offence that they had not paid their taxes.

It was horrible. Some of them (illiterates) would have their tax papers, but the officials would not even give them the opportunity of showing their tax papers. They would take them to the D.O.’s office, collect some money from them and then release them.

I was growing up, and I didn’t like it, and I was looking for a way I could do something about it. That gave me the idea of wanting to be a lawyer, so I could be able to help these people.

Growing up, I saw Zik campaigning; I saw Awolowo campaigning. In fact, Awolowo used to stay in my father’s house in Ikare each time he came to Ikare. So, I got close to them and used to watch them during their campaigns. So, I loved it.

These people could impact upon human beings around them, so I grew up with wanting to either be a lawyer or a politician. To the glory of God, I qualified as a lawyer at London University in 1970. I was called to the bar in 1971.

Remember, it was a military regime at that time. I stumbled at a meeting in Jakande’s house; one of those underground meetings that they were holding in those days. I sat at the back, and they were discussing how to have party cards, and the question was, ‘how do we number the party cards, say Agege, Ikorodu, Ikeja?’ They couldn’t figure it out, and I put up my hand and said why don’t we do it this way? Let’s put alphabets before the numbers say, Agege – A1234, then B to Ikeja. That sounded novel to Jakande who I had never met before then.

So when we finished the meeting, he called me and asked if that was my first time of coming to the meeting and I said yes. He then enquired about my profession, and I told him I was a lawyer, and he said ‘come to these meetings regularly,’ and that was how I met Jakande and ended up being Special Adviser on Political Affairs in 1979.

He believed so much in me. I was special adviser on political affairs, and anytime there was trouble anywhere in government, I was assigned there; I was put in the Governor’s Office. We had a running battle with Bishop Okogie in those days because we were taking schools off the missionaries. Okogie refused and took us to court on the basis that the Constitution allows him to impart knowledge.

Each time we went to court, he won, and we lost based on the claim that he was imparting knowledge and that he could not be denied that right. I walked to the governor’s office one day and said we don’t have to fight about this and told him that the law gives us the right to give rules and regulations for establishing new schools. Okay, Okogie follow the Constitution, establish schools, but you have to take the rules for establishing schools from us. If you want to establish schools in Lagos State, you must have a standard Olympic Swimming Pool, you must have a standard football pitch and that until you fulfilled these requirements you could not establish a school and that was how we defeated Okogie.

Jakande couldn’t believe it, and that was how I was moved from being political adviser to legal adviser and we were shut out of power in 1983. After 1983 we went into our private businesses until 1992 when Abiola came around. I was very, close to Abiola.

In 1993, I contested for the Senate in Lagos here with Tinubu, Odi Onikosi of blessed memory and Dominic. Tinubu was just coming into politics at that time.

On the day of that election, we were all filed up, you know it was Option A4. Sarunmi was the person we knew as nobody knew Tinubu then, so Sarumi stood in front. Sarumi was the head of their group then known as Primrose.

It started to rain so heavily that the electoral officers asked us to go home, but to our chagrin, some people came back, and they were counted, and the rest is history, and that is how Tinubu emerged as a senator, and we all left it. That is when also Bucknor-Akerele also emerged with four votes at the Island.

We all went home until 1999 when AD (Alliance for Democracy) came. When the AD came, I, by the grace of God won the election to the House of Representatives under Afenifere.

Afenifere was the rallying point for all of us, but no sooner than we all won the election, everybody started to have peculiar interests. Idiosyncrasies of each person started to play out, and then some people were either with Tinubu or with Afenifere. I stayed with Afenifere and will never bite the finger that fed me. I have nothing against Tinubu, absolutely nothing, but I just could not…it was difficult for me to understand that I would abandon my old ship and join another person.

That was how the little difference emerged, and we were carrying on and carrying on, but in the party we knew ourselves. You were either for Tinubu or main Afenifere, and I was known to be main Afenifere. Of course, he who pays the piper dictates the tune. Tinubu being the governor, he would say he is the leader of the party and had the presence of those he says believed in him and by his own calculation, I could not have believed in him if I would still stay in Afenifere.

Naturally, when people were to be returned, I was not returned because I did not belong. And up till today, I thank God that I am the National Financial Secretary of Afenifere and if my race gives me a particular position to hold for them, I will believe that I am holding it in trust for them. Like when I was in the National Assembly I saw myself as leading the Yoruba Race in the National Assembly.

I did, it wasn’t easy, but I did it.

Do you see the Yoruba Race as endangered under the current dispensation?

We have always been endangered from time immemorial. Even Luggard didn’t like us from amalgamation. They didn’t hide it because when the colonialists came, with tremendous respect to the minorities, they saw three of us – they knew the Hausa very well, and they didn’t hide it, and in some of their declassified documents, they wrote that they were uneducated and could be pushed around, so they had no problem with them.

The Yoruba were educated and were asking why are you doing so so and so to us, why are you not doing this, so they didn’t particularly like us; so we have been an endangered specie from the beginning. That is us; we stand up for what we believe.

Up till now?

Yes. Up till now. There was a clarion call from Arewa Youths saying that the Igbo should quit the North from 1st of October and immediately, Afenifere said to them that if you ask the Igbo to leave, you are asking us to leave.

But they didn’t ask the Yoruba to leave?

That is us.

But the Yoruba joined the North to fight the Igbo in the civil war?

That is very unfair. We did not join the Hausa to fight the Igbo.

What happened?

What happened was this, when Ojukwu decided to leave, Awolowo went to Ojukwu, took all the risk and said ‘my brother don’t do this, let’s stay in this country and restructure it. What they may be doing to you may not be fair, it is not that we are happy about it ourselves, but let’s stay in there and sort it out. That is how the question of Aburi came about. So we now went to Aburi to try and sort it out. The soldiers of East origin would go to the East, soldiers of Western origin would go to the West, and soldiers of Northern origin would go to the North. We came back.

It was Gowon who reneged. When Gowon reneged, Awolowo again went and met Ojukwu and said, we don’t need to fight a war, but Ojukwu said his mind was made up. At first, Awolowo played this card and said, (to Gowon) look, if you by act of omission or commission you make Ojukwu to leave, then we will leave. What he was saying was that if you force them out, you treat them as low people, then we will say you are saying it to us as well. This thing has to be mutually agreed.

Till today we don’t consider the Igbo wanting to leave as treasonable because that is the essence of democracy – self determination.

But Awolowo was understood to have said that if the Igbo left that the Yoruba would also leave!

Yes, by an act of omission or commission, that if you force them out and that you must do everything to encourage them to stay. Ojukwu has the right to self-determination.

Between 1967 and now what has changed that the Yoruba are now partnering the Igbo?

We have always been.

Not always?

Give me an example.

Afenifere is saying that if Nigeria were to break into a war that the Yoruba will not join the North unlike what you did in 1967?

You got it wrong again. We did not join the North; we were in Nigeria.

Ok, will you stay in Nigeria to fight the Igbo?

No

What has changed?

Nothing has changed besides the question of self-determination. You see, this amalgamation, we were nations brought together, and you cannot force us to be together. We can talk about it to stay together, but you cannot force us to stay together. We hold that as sacrosanct.

If the Igbo decide to leave as they are saying and we are persuading them not to, and I am a member of the Southern Leaders Forum, and our decision is that we must try and salvage this nation but on the basis of justice and fair play.

What do you consider justice and fair play?

For those of us who were born before 1966, we remember that Western Nigeria had its Constitution, the North had its own Constitution, and the East had its own Constitution.

We developed at our own rate and pace, there was heavy competition between the trio, and that is simply what we are talking about. Let’s go back to what Ironsi took away from us. It was Ironsi who messed this up. It was Ironsi who suspended that Constitution and all we are asking is, go back to that Constitution. Let us go back to what Ironsi took away from us!

Why should the North agree to that given its electoral advantages in federal constituencies?

Why should I not lock my door and not allow a thief to come in and take my things? Tell me! Why should they continue to ride roughshod on me and I continue to be happy? We are saying no. In truth and indeed, nobody wants to be at a disadvantage anyone in this equation. North was growing at its own rate and used to have groundnut pyramids in those days and what is stopping them from continuing? Because of oil?


http://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/07/feel-sorry-tinubu-aregbesola-damaged-olaitan/

Just because images wanted to be tarnished you wrote a a novel....... Shhmmm

oyatz:
Relax bros, take two criminally chilled bottles of Orijin from Mama Nnkechi shop step down with nnkwobi...we are in 2017, not the 1960s, forget this hatred for the Yoruba people , the world has gone beyond what you are thinking

You want igbo to forget the mass-killing you meted out on his people just because you think the world has moved on.the same way you would like the jews to forget about the holocaust, you must be joking.let me tell, there is a section of igbo youths in diaspora who are not even cormfortable with kanus too much diplomcy with you murderous nigeria govt.very soon the chicken will come home to roost.3 million lives can never be forgeten so easily.no amount of propoganda will stop the second revenge war on your people.the diffrence is that it may be fought as biafra/oduduwa war.

NONE of the names/person I mentioned is Hausa and only one was hausanized Fulani.
1) You keep shouting Hausa ,Hausa ,Hausa without even knowing who are the hausas.

2) In Nigeria of today, Hausa is more of a language group than a tribal group.

3) To you, every body that's not Igbo or Yoruba must be Hausa..what a level of ignorance!

4) For most humans,its very easy to assume that our problems are caused by the other peoples (our spouse, partners, step mothers, rivals/ enemies, witches/wizards , Awolowo, Afonja, Ndi Ofe-mmanu, Fulani, yorubastard etc), we love to blame every other person except ourselves.

Neither the Hausa, Fulani nor Yoruba is the cause of your problems...even if your are given Biafra today, contrary to the pictures of El dorado,you envisage, there will still be problems

Nwakaumu:
With the names you listed here,is not obvious to you that the so called nigeria were hausa-fulani and their yoruba slave?.

Nwakaumu:
With the names you listed here,is not obvious to you that the so called nigeria were hausa-fulani and their yoruba slave?.

It just shows you are incoherent, uninformed and local Onitsha main market or Ariara market or Alaba market trader. Mind you, in those markets, we have people who are highly educated, exposed and enlightened, you belonged to the other class. What can you deduce from the list, even the list is incomplete & not completely correct. David Ejoor is not an Hausa. Wey was the Chief of Naval Staff. You don't know about military formation, you are babbling. You are the greatest slave. Poisoned and imprisoned mind is the greatest slavery. You want freedom from Nigerian federation, but held down & no way yet out. Who is then Hausa Fulani slave? Freedom is about virtual possibilities. You come to the land of slaves for economic freedom? You come with nothing and now making money. You are ungrateful.