Concerned Oodua Defendant on Thursday protested in Ibadan, calling on Southwest Governors to prevail on the acting leader of Pan Yoruba Organisation Afenifere, Pa Ayo Adebanjo, to step aside.
This is coming two days after youths, under the umbrella of Yoruba Afenifere Youth Organisation of Nigeria (YAYON), staged similar protest, demanding that the acting leader step down.
According to The Nation, the group said Adebanjo has overstayed in the organisation, declaring the acting leader was no more relevant to the group.
Speaking during a protest in Ibadan, the Southwest Coordinator of Concerned Oodua Descendants, Engr. Lai Gboluaje, said whoever leads Afenifere must be in support of what Yoruba people are all about.
He maintained that Adebanjo’s stance against his kinsmen particularly after the just concluded Presidential election is uncalled for.
Gboluaje noted the former leader of Afenifere, Pa Reuben Fasoranti, should take back the mantel of leadership so that the group can be rejigged and reverted to its original philosophy.
He said Adebanjo’s open hostility against Yoruba’s interest in the political, economic, and social arena is not what should come from any reasonable Yoruba person, let alone a person who is supposed to lead the foremost Yoruba organisation.
He said: “We watched with dismay, disappointment and sadness how the noble ideal of Afenifere founding fathers has been bastardised in the last year, we can no longer fold our arms and watch our noble heritage going into the mud, if we did, the likes of Pa Awolowo, Pa Ajasin, Pa Adesanya, Pa Ige will for forgive us.
“Chief Adebanjo has subverted the principle of Afenifere, he has proven to be incapable of leading Afenifere or any other Yoruba interest.”
