A foremost monarch in Osun State, the Orangun of Oke-Ila, Oba Adedokun Abolarinwa has said divisions among Yorubas will make it difficult to overcome several challenges militating against the region.
He noted that it becomes imperative for Yoruba sons and daughters to rally other ethnic groups across the country to enable the best candidate of their own to clinch the 2023 presidential seat.
Oba Abolarin, who stated this in Osogbo at a lecture on Yoruba and the world, “Mitigating, Surviving and Overcoming Existential Threats,” admitted that there is stiff competition among the ethnic groups across the country for presidency. He called for unity of purpose among the Yorubas to ensure that their best candidate emerge in 2023.
He said, “I pray that we have the best, I know that as Yoruba people we are gifted but within the armpit of Nigeria federation there are competitions on who will lead the country, but we must learn to navigate through the interests to clinch the presidency.
“We have 625 languages in Nigeria, Yoruba is just one, so we must navigate through, I wish we have the best candidate and it is doable because what we need now in Nigeria is a great purposeful president, the challenges are too much.”
Speaking at the event, Uniosun’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof Clement Adebooye condemned tagging any ethic group as criminal. He called for prosecution of arrested bandits and conviction.
He commended the Federal Government on the introduction of mother tongue as medium of instruction in primary school, saying it will go a long way on preserving Nigerian languages
