Newly installed Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Chief Gani Adams will Yoruba youths against any onslaught by the Fulanis.
This is coming against the backdrop of attacks on innocent people by Fulani herdsmen.
Secretary General of the Yoruba Council of Elders, Dr. Kunle Olajide, in an interview with Sunday Punch, insisted that the Yoruba will insist on true federalism and restructuring as their major agenda for the 2019 elections.
Adams, according to Olajide, “has a major role to play. In our congratulatory message to him, we told him that he was assuming office at an important period in the history of Nigeria and Yoruba land. This is a time that we are under siege; we can see the threat hanging over our heads. So. he has a major duty to play and I am sure that as the generalissimo of Yoruba land, he is capable of playing it to ensure that our borders are protected. We will not tolerate invasion.”
He revealed that ”It is not only the OPC that we can use; there are so many other youth organisations that we can use in this circumstance. Adams needs to rally all the groups, including the YCE, traditional leaders and our politicians among others, to ward off the attackers.”
The said the intervention does not have to take the form of militia system. “Don’t forget that we have a strong culture and fortunately, the Aare has been outspoken about the preservation of our culture. If the government has proven that it cannot defend us again, then we need to resort to a measure of self-defence in a way that we understand. We will not wait to be massacred by these (Fulani) people at night. It will be foolhardy to do so. This is not the only time that the Fulanis have been attempting to invade us. They were stopped during the Jalumi War. Certain things happened then. It is not for the media.”
On the proposed cattle colony by the Federal Government, Olajide explained that “We have made it abundantly clear during our first National Executive Council Meeting that we reject in totality, the establishment of cattle colonies in Yoruba land. We have no apology on that at all. The idea started two years ago as grazing reserves and when that was rejected, they came back with this idea of grazing colonies.
“As far as we are concerned, there will be nothing like that. We went further to expatiate on the fact that cattle rearing remains an entirely private business. There are entrepreneurs all over the world in cattle rearing who invested in the business. They do not need to be specially pampered by the Federal Government.
“Anybody who wants to go into cattle business will do his feasibility studies, and from that, proceed to negotiate for land depending on the laws of the state he wants to practise. You don’t just wake up and tell them to give you land for herdsmen to rear their cattle. No, that will never happen in Yoruba land.
