A s o c i o – p o l i t i c a l group, Ondo State Liberation Movement, OSLM has urged Yoruba traditional rulers, leaders of thought and prominent people to come together and fashion a way forward for the South West Region. Coordinator of the Group, Mr Oladipo Ajidahun, said such was necessary in the face of the marginalisation, betrayal and decay of legacies of the heroes of the race including the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo confronting the region. Ajidahun in a chat with journalists in Ado Ekiti yesterday lauded the visit of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, to the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi and other Yoruba monarchs, saying unity among them was a potent force for the development of Yorubaland. OSLM lamented that selfishness of the sociopolitical organisations, representatives in the National Assembly and other political appointees had culminated in their betrayal of the region especially as infrastructures and other development projects were concerned.

The group, which condemned the manner Yoruba people were willingly being used against their fellows for political appointments, urged monarchs and prominent leaders in the region to rise swiftly to check the trend. It advised Yoruba people against engaging their leaders on the pages on newspapers for selfish gains, saying “Yoruba people should have common front to enhance our progress and development”. While expressing readiness to move against the ‘forces within’ that are dragging the region backwards, the group said: “We are going to invoke the spirit of our ancestors against them. Yoruba race is going down. Our ancestors will not forgive us if they see the region wiped away”. Ajidahun, who expressed worries over the state of some states in the region, urged the governors of Yoruba states to ensure development of their states and the heritage of the race.

He said: “Some Yoruba leaders have betrayed us because when they were in positions to develop the region, they did not. They are even destroying the legacies of Chief Awolowo. Yoruba governors are not thinking of the heritage but rather working against one another and by extension, affecting the people’s interest”. Ajidahun, however, praised APC National Leader, Senator Bola Tinubu, for his efforts to ensure Yoruba people were not marginalised, saying: “Tinubu is trying and his fights for the course of Yoruba in the last six years are pronounced”. The group, however, declined to comment on how the race has fared under President Muhammadu Buhari in the last eight months saying “it is too early. We are still watching the Buhari administration. Yoruba voted massively for him because we believed the last administration marginalised us. “Buhari never promised the Yoruba anything. So, I expected the Yoruba leaders to have asked him his specific plans for the region. As I have said, we are still watching,” it said.