By Raza Bamidele
A pan socio-cultural and political organization, Alliance of Yoruba Democratic Movement (AYDM), under the leadership of a renowned activist, Comrade Adewale Adeoye, Thursday, October 6, converged at the conference hall of St Leo Catholic Church, Toyin Street, Ikeja Lagos here its members unanimously endorsed Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s aspiration to be president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Recall that Asiwaju Bola Tinubu is the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), for the February 25, 2023, general election. He hails from the southwestern part of Nigeria.
In his opening remarks to welcome guests and members to the occasion, the Movement’s Secretary, Comrade Popoola Ajayi said the conference was a call to action by the organization which was established to create awareness towards improving the electoral fortunes in Yorubaland, disclosing that the affiliate members of the coalition include the artisan unions, mechanic associations, Okada riders association, students movement and several Yoruba centric groups.
According to him, in the past few years, voters’ apathy dominated the South West political culture due to the disconnect between the Yoruba ruling elites and ordinary folks, blaming the diminishing and low voters turnout for that just as he lamented that the development has reduced the ability of the south-west to negotiate from the position of strength in the Nigerian political space.
Ajayi, therefore, added that it was against that consequence that it was deemed necessary for a non-state actors’ intervention to create an electoral paradigm shift in the old Western Region which he described as the melting political pot of the western part of the country pointing out that, it is by doing so that the region would be able to recapture its lost glory and attain its rightful position in the scheme of things in the country.
His words: “This conference is coming at a time when our people are not only confused but despondent, no thanks to the precious social and economic situation cum the rudderless political condition the Nigerian state and rabid self-cantered politicians had foisted on them as a result of the contradiction inherent in the type of system we run.
“It is only appropriate for us to gather and reason together to find a common ground. Moreso, when the outcome of the forthcoming general elections remains utterly unpredictable.”
Delivering his keynote address, the President, of South West Professional Forum (SOWPROF), Chief Segun Ajibulu, spoke on the theme: 2023 Presidential Election, Which Way forward for the Yoruba nation? Emphasized the imperative of Bola Tinubu’s presidency in 2023.
According to him, for 2023, as a matter of fact, the Western axis of Nigeria which is always a game changer must work assiduously to secure a landslide victory for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the 2023 presidential election.
Going down memory lane, Ajibulu related that, “history is replete with narratives of betrayals and rejection of our kinsmen when there were urgent needs to give them unalloyed support,” reminding that, “Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Chief MKO Abiola, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and many sons and daughters of Yoruba extraction have suffered a similar fate from betrayal syndrome.”
In other words, the lecturer continued, “the political ambitions of many Yoruba indigenes were scuttled while their political vicissitudes and travails were largely traceable to principal dramatis personae of Yoruba extraction,” regretting that, “some individuals of Yoruba extraction have (again) begun their campaigns of innuendoes, politics of bitterness and cynicism deploying the divisive tool of Pull- Him- Down syndrome!”
He, therefore, expressed the confidence that “there is no doubt that the counsel of Ahitophel over Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu’s political journey towards Nigeria’s presidency come 2023 will turn into foolishness,” urging the Yoruba nation to work in unison to make sure that Tinubu’s presidency in 2023 becomes a task that must be accomplished.
All other speakers on the occasion spoke along the same line that the Tinubu project is a collective project for the Yoruba nation.
Dignitaries, who graced the occasion cut across all the Nigerian ethnic groups from home and abroad.
