Kunle ADELABU
Hon. Wasiu Adeshina, Chairman, Ikorodu Local Government , has stated that his administration will always support any agenda in the interest of the Yorubas in the Southwest, Nigeria.
He stated this when a group , Yoruba Presidential Agenda, paid him a courtesy visit in his office at the Ikorodu Local Government Secretariat along Beach road , during the week.
The National Coordinator of the group, Comrade Taiwo Ajayi, while stating that the group was visiting Ikorodu Local government first out of the five selected to visit in Lagos State , said that they had embarked on the visitation to seek for the support of the council chairmen for the group’s agenda.
Meanwhile, Hon. Adeshina, in his address, said, “My administration will always support any move that would correct the imbalances against the Yorubas nationwide. We are ready to support any agenda that promotes Southwest’s interest.
“I have seen the genuineness in the agenda that you are pursuing. My own administration would do everything to give you support.
“It is a known fact that Yorubas have been shortchanged since the time of Pa Awolowo when his election was rigged.
“Same thing also happened with Chief MKO Abiola in the 1993 Presidential election when his election , adjudged as the freest and fairest , was annulled and he was prevented from assuming office”.
He stated that Yorubas should produce the next President of Nigeria after the tenure of the incumbent who is from the North.
“After the north, Yoruba should be the next to produce the President of the country”.
He assured the group that he will convince his colleagues to also give their support.
“I will talk to my colleagues to also give supports to your group because you are pursuing an agenda that would benefit all of us at the long run.
“We are also going to start talking to our counterparts in the north to give us support come 2023. We know their major players and we shall be engaging them on the need to support us” ,Adeshina stated.
Comrade Taiwo Ajayi, the National Coordinator of Yoruba Presidential Agenda , speaking earlier during the visit , stated that the group is concerned about the security situation in the Southwest and called for youth engagement through agriculture.
He also called on the councils’ chairmen and other political leaders to intervene and ask those promoting campaign of calumny against Asiwaju Bola Tinubu in relation to the 2023 Presidency to stop.
“As a group, we are here to inform you about our group which was formed to promote and protect the Yoruba interests.
“We are concerned about the security situations in the Southwest. We can all see and hear all that are happening and there is urgent need to check that before it degenerated.
“We are also concerned about the unemployment rate , especially as it concern our youths. There is need to engage our youths productively and our own answer to that is agricultural engagement and we have our own plan towards that”.
He equally solicited for the support of the local government chairmen and state governors in this regards.
“Our pilot project is to engage 300 youths, 50 each from the six Southwest states and our focus is cassava and plantain planting and marketing.
“This are produce that Southwest can engage in to feed the country and export. We have good lands that can sustain this produces and there is always ready market for them.
Comrade Aje disclosed that the group is also pursuing Presidential agenda for the Southwest come 2023 and solicited for the support of all political office holders in this regard.
“We are also seeking for your help and others too to make Yorubas produce the next President of the country and to achieve this, we have started mobilizing our youths that clocked 18 years after the last general elections to start registering to vote.
“We are also appealing to those that were unable to register before now and who are of age to also do the same because it is our votes that is our strength.
“Southwest is capable of producing more than 10million registered voters. That is the only way that we can be taking serious.
“We also want our council chairmen to start mobilizing early so that we can achieve improvement in our voting strength. We need government machinery in this regard to initiatie effective sentisitization programme across the southwest states”.
He alleged that some political figures do not want power to return to the Southwest , adding that they are the ones that are sponsoring campaign of calumny against Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
“We have found out that some people have been working against the interest of the Yorubas. They do not want the power to return to the Yorubas. They have been the ones sponsoring negative campaigns against our leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
“We are aware that they printed different Tinubu for President posters as part of their plans to ensure that Tinubu is discredited before 2023.
“We are appealing to you and other political leaders to intervene and tell them to stop the acts” , he stated .
