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Yoruba Leadership Crisis: Youth Coalition Rejects Prof Banji Akintoye As New Leader

September 25, 2019

“Following the current trend of events within the leadership of Yoruba
race, we wish to state without mincing words that the youth of Yoruba
extraction vehemently denounce the declaration of Prof. Banji Akintoye
as the leader of the race."

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The Yoruba Youth Coalition Group has rejected and denounced the
process that led to the emergence of Prof. Banji Akintoye as the
leader of the Yoruba.

This was contained in a communiqué issued in Akure by the Yoruba Youth
National Leader, Eric Oluwole and the coalition spokesperson, Ojo
Bright.

The coalition is made up of different youth groups from the South-West
zone which agreed to come under one umbrella to address the issue of
the Yoruba leader recently ascribed to Akintoye.

“Following the current trend of events within the leadership of Yoruba
race, we wish to state without mincing words that the youth of Yoruba
extraction vehemently denounce the declaration of Prof. Banji Akintoye
as the leader of the race.

“While we note the essence and need for a Yoruba leader at a critical
time like this, we, however, frown upon a backyard and lopsided
process to produce a leader for the race.

“We consider this fire brigade approach as one capable of achieving
the total opposite of the desired result for the unification of the
Yoruba race. This desecration must stop now,” the communiqué said.

It urged the youth to rise up and graduate from being referred to as
mere future leaders to leaders of today and tomorrow, adding, “hence
we cannot afford to mortgage our future by maintaining criminal
silence on this pertinent issue".

The coalition called for a more inclusive and unified process, devoid
of politics and political party colouration, adding “involvement of
traditional institutions in the Yoruba nation will be fully involved.

“The emergence of Banji Akintoye as Yoruba leader, we believe, can
jeopardize our future, if care is not taken, because it has caused
more disunity among Yoruba than any good.

“While his personality is not a subject of debate, the process is
shameful, unprofessional, despicable, barbaric and undermined the
status of a professor.

“We hence charge him to put the interest of Yoruba race first and his
name so as not to be shamefully recounted in history as a saboteur of
the Yoruba nation for personal aggrandizement,” it said.

The group emphasized that Afenifere remained the umbrella body of the
Yoruba nation.

“Pa Reuben Fasoranti is its true leader," the coalition explained.

“On this note, the Yoruba youth groups, under this coalition, hereby
reject and denounce the nomination and election that pronounced Prof.
Banji Akintoye as Yoruba leader.

“We are appealing to him to wait for his time. It is God who elevates
and gives a position to humans. He should not be deceived by those
seeking to destroy him and disunite the Yoruba race further,” the
communiqué said.

Topics
Tradition