The Chairman of the Yoruba Unity Forum and member of the Afenifere Elders’ Caucus, Archbishop Emeritus Ayo Ladigbolu, has urged the Yoruba to embrace collective leadership as the only viable path to unity, saying it is no longer realistic to rally the people under one individual as was possible in the era of Chief Obafemi Awolowo.
Speaking at the second day of the Southwest Stakeholders Dialogue in Akure, Ondo State, Ladigbolu said the Yoruba must recognise that while Awolowo and other visionaries such as Chief Adekunle Ajasin left indelible marks, the times have changed and the model of unity must evolve accordingly.
“We all know we cannot re-create Awolowo or Ajasin,” he said, “but we can create a collective leadership which is credible and able to enunciate the Yoruba priorities.” He identified the elders in the mould of Chief Reuben Fasoranti, Chief Olu Falae and Chief Bisi Akande as “spiritually and culturally rooted vehicles for such leadership renewal.”
He recalled that Dr Tunji Otegbeye, in his address at the Obafemi Awolowo Foundation Dialogue in 2007, had remarked: “I have ceased to deify man since I was disappointed by Zik. But the same is not true of Awo, who lived and died for Yoruba unity and one Nigeria.” Ladigbolu said those words remain a powerful reminder that Awolowo’s greatness lay not in his person, but in his vision of unity and service to the Yoruba and the nation.
He lamented that many individuals and groups who claim to be speaking for the Yoruba “are not talking to each other,” describing the situation as one of the greatest obstacles to regional progress. “Yoruba are good individually and can be better if we work together,” he said, adding that the Akure dialogue should serve as “a veritable means of re-energising our region.”
The cleric stressed that Yoruba progress must now rest on shared priorities anchored on the values of Omoluabi and Olaju—the dignity of the individual and the sophistication of the people. He said the region must take pride in what its people earn through honest labour, not in what is stolen from public coffers.
“Our focus must be on developing our component parts, eradicating poverty and making our populations proud to be Yoruba-Nigerians,” he said, warning that without internal cooperation and a redefined sense of purpose, the Southwest risked squandering its historical advantages.
He called for renewed commitment to self-reliance and innovation, urging Yoruba leaders, professionals and businesspeople to invest in local industries, agriculture and digital education. He also cited the Odu’a Investment Foundation’s Digital Education for Innovation and Economic Development as an example of how young people could drive a new wave of growth across the region.
Turning to governance, Ladigbolu noted that transparency and accountability must underpin the new vision. “We cannot eat our cake and still have it,” he said, challenging both citizens and governments to ask hard questions about revenue generation, expenditure, and infrastructure development.
He concluded by warning that civic engagement and fiscal discipline would determine whether the region could move from adversity to prosperity. “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice,” he said, calling on all Yoruba stakeholders to close ranks, speak with one voice, and work together under a collective leadership that reflects the unity of purpose once embodied by Awolowo’s legacy.
