Ooni preaches unity as council rejects call for Yoruba Nation
The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, has called for unity among the people of the Yoruba race in the pursuit of progress.
The royal father spoke through his spokesperson, Moses Olafare, in his palace in Ile-Ife on Sunday evening at the 6th edition of the Omoluabi Royal Icon Award organised by Yoruba Council Worldwide.
Oba Ogunwusi, who insisted that the unity of the Yoruba race remained non-negotiable, said without unity, development might be difficult to achieve.
He commended the organisers of the award for working to foster unity among the people, describing the initiative as a rallying point for, especially, the youths, making them to further unite and aid collaborations within the race.
He said, “Of course, the unity of Yoruba is not negotiable because it’s the best way to charge forward and progress. When people are not united, the course of moving forward becomes a problem.
“Since its inception six years ago, this programme has done well for the unity of the race and it has really gone a long way as a rallying point for our people, particularly the youth in Yoruba land. So, the unity of our race has to happen and it’s not negotiable.”
Earlier in his address at the event, the President, Yoruba Council Worldwide, Oladotun Hassan, warned against acts of lawlessness under the guise of Yoruba Nation agitation.
He called on the Yoruba people to support the administration of President Bola Tinubu to succeed in managing the affairs of the country.
Hassan said, “I have condemned this stand (violence by Yoruba Nation agitators) emphatically, and we are repeating our condemnation that we stand against the idea of some movement agitating for Yoruba Nation. We urge them to stop this anomaly.
“I have spoken to leaders of the groups on different occasions not to cause an unnecessary uprising, especially when we have the sitting President from Yorubaland
“He (Tinubu) needs all our support. We know that our demands are still many, we have been championing the restructuring agenda, whereby job opportunities can be guaranteed for Nigerians.”
It would be recalled that some armed Yoruba Nation agitators had on Saturday, April 13, invaded the Oyo State Government Secretariat, Agodi in Ibadan, attempting to hoist their flag on the premises of the state House of Assembly.
The arms-bearing agitators were, however, subdued by security agents and have since been remanded in the prison custody by the court.
