The pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, yesterday, insisted that the country must return to the 1963 Constitution to be on the right path. It emphasised that restructuring must take place before the 2023 general elections.
In a communique made available to journalists by its National Publicity Secretary, Jare Ajayi, the organisation stated this at the end of its meeting held at the house of the Acting Leader, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, at Sanya-Ogbo, Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State. Adebanjo presided over the meeting, while participants came from all the states in the South-West, as well as Kwara and Kogi states.
The meeting deliberated on social, political, security and economic situations of the country, lamenting that the country is going through a lot of trauma.
The group also deliberated on the consistent advocacy by Dr. Ahmed Gumi on the government to pardon terrorists and to even compensate them in various ways.
Meanwhile, the pan-Yoruba group also said the reason for visiting Lagos State former governor, Bola Tinubu, was purely humanitarian.
Ajayi, who spoke with journalists after the meeting, said: “The visit of our leaders to former Governor Bola Tinubu is purely on humanitarian ground. He is a Yoruba son. We do not forsake ourselves. Afenifere members are Omoluabis and humanists.
“What the leaders have done is the hallmark of thoroughbred Yoruba men and women. We may disagree on principles but we are not political enemies. Even if there is a disagreement on issues, it does not mean that we should not relate. The interest of the Yoruba is what is uppermost in our minds.”
In another development, Chairman, Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG), Wale Oshun, has urged the new executive members of Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) to sustain the legacy of the founder of the organisation, the late Dr. Fredrick Fasehun, by continuous demand for restructuring of Nigeria to true federalism, resource control and equal opportunity for all Nigerians.
Oshun, who spoke at the inauguration of the executives in Lagos, also enjoined members of the Congress that the only way they could sustain and achieve what Fasehun stood for is by working in harmony and doing every thing possible to ensure Nigeria remains one despite the demand for restructuring.
He stressed the need for all groups of OPC under the leadership of Aare Ona Kakanfo, Iba Gani Adams and Osibote to harmonise in fighting the true course of Yoruba nation.