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Tag: Yoruba Group

  • Yoruba group donates gifts to child patients at Dutse general hospital

    Yoruba group donates gifts to child patients at Dutse general hospital

    A Yoruba socio-cultural group, the Okun Development Association (ODA), Dutse Branch, Jigawa State, has presented gifts to children receiving treatment at the Paediatric Unit of Dutse General Hospital as part of its end-of-year humanitarian outreach.

    Speaking after the presentation, the Vice Chairman of the association, Mr Ojo Jacob Olanrewaju, who led members on the visit, said the gesture was in keeping with ODA’s long-standing tradition of giving back to society, particularly during the end-of-year period.

    He explained that the association has a history of carrying out similar charitable initiatives, including visits and donations to orphanages, correctional centres and other vulnerable groups.

    “This is a culture we have sustained over the years. At the end of every year, we try to put smiles on the faces of our brothers and sisters who are going through difficult times,” Olanrewaju said.

    He added that this year’s outreach focused on the Paediatric Unit of Dutse General Hospital, where gifts were distributed to children receiving care in both the medical and surgical wards.

    “You can see that the children are happy. Our aim is to share joy with them during this season and to pray for their speedy recovery,” he added.

    He further noted that the Okun Development Association comprises members of the Yoruba community residing in Dutse, stressing that the initiative was part of their commitment to giving back to the community in which they live peacefully.

    The vice chairman also commended the Jigawa State Government, under the leadership of Governor Malam Umar Namadi, for improvements in the health sector and other critical areas of development. 

    He called for more inclusive governance policies to address the needs of marginalised groups in the state.

    In his remarks, a nursing officer at the hospital, Dr Nasir Auwalu, expressed appreciation to the association for the visit and urged other organisations to emulate the gesture. He noted that such acts of kindness help boost the morale of patients, especially children, during festive periods.

    Also speaking on behalf of the beneficiaries, Malama Binta Usman thanked the association for its support and prayed for the emergence of more humanitarian groups like the Okun Development Association in Jigawa State.

  • Yoruba group hails Labour, Fed Govt on minimum wage negotiation

    Yoruba group hails Labour, Fed Govt on minimum wage negotiation

    A Yoruba socio-political group, Yoruba Leaders of Thought (YLT), has praised labour unions and the Federal Government for handling the minimum wage negotiation with caution and a sense of patriotism.

    The group’s leader, Alhaji Tajudeen Olusi, described as heart-warming the general interest of Nigerians which was considered in determining the way out by the Federal Government and labour unions during their meetings.

    A statement by its General Secretary, Mr. Bayo Aina, reads: “Yoruba Leaders of Thought commends the team currently negotiating minimum wage for the high level of patriotism, sense of responsibility and acute awareness of the possible impact of a hasty deal on the welfare of the larger majority who may not benefit directly from the new minimum wage.”

    It urged the negotiating team to “endeavour to be fair to one and all such that everyone may reap some benefits from the sacrifices that we all have made collectively these past months following the hike in prices of oil and the floating of the exchange rate, even as organised labour appears to be asking for the lion’s share in the name of Nigerian workers”.

    Read Also: New minimum wage cost implications: Tinubu meets Edun, Bagudu at the Villa

    It added: “In the past 25 years, we all have watched helplessly as minimum wage moved from below N1,000 and to an assured level of more than N60,000.

    “Our need for 21st century infrastructure can never be met if we have to keep borrowings after having spent all revenues on salaries emoluments and other recurrent expenditure.

    “We appeal to all parties on the negotiating table to consider the fate of the many millions stakeholders who will not benefit directly but who may have to live under the burden of the outcome of their negotiations.”

  • Sheath your swords, Yoruba Group appeals to Iba Gani Adams, Igboho, others

    Sheath your swords, Yoruba Group appeals to Iba Gani Adams, Igboho, others

    Foremost Yoruba socio- cultural organisation, the Yoruba Alliance Forum (YAF) at the weekend urged the Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland Iba Gani Adams, the Yoruba nation activist, Sunday Adeyemo, popularly called Sunday Igboho and many others that have been bothered by the recent viral audio content credited to Iba Gani Adams, to sheath their swords and unite to fight the common enemies of Yoruba race.

    The leaders of the pan Yoruba organisation made the appeal on Saturday, after reaching out to Iba Gani Adams on telephone, as part of efforts to ensure peace in Yoruba land.

    YAF, in a statement by the chairman, Chief Onitolo-Ariyo Adejare and the secretary, Comrade Adedeji Oluwaseun, described the unity of the Yoruba as the best weapon to fight common enemies.

    The YAF chieftains also added that Yoruba sons and daughters, both home and in the diaspora are worried about the ongoing social media attacks between loyalists of Iba Gani Adams and that of Sunday Igboho.

    The group also described those that are sending the viral audio content across the social media platforms as enemies of Yoruba race, saying that such acts were very libelous, because they had intruded into the privacy of Iba Adams and the other person involved in the private discussion.

    “This unlawful act can affect the much needed unity and peace in Yoruba land and can also expose the race to further attacks by the enemies of the Yoruba.

    “The issue that transpired between Iba and his former aides in 2015 as well as the audio content generated from a private discussion in 2021 should not be the clog in the wheel of the progress of Yoruba race.

    “We had a telephone conversation with the Aareonakakanfo of Yoruba land, Iba Gani Adams today (March 23), on the content and the veracity of the trending audio voice note. 

    “Having listened to his side of the story. We considered it pertinent to intervene in the interest of the  Yoruba as well as for the future of our race.

    “From his account, the audio was a private discussion between Iba and a US- based younger brother of his friend.

    “According to him, the voice note was not made in bad faith because it was not in the public or reported in the newspapers or any traditional medium. All the contents were products of a private discussion and responses given in reaction to the need for all the groups in Yoruba land to unite and come together as one, in order to fight the common enemies of our race.

    “Iba also described as unconfirmed information allegedly linking Igboho to the death of former Minister of Justice, the late Chief Bola Ige. He also said it repeatedly that he didn’t believe all the information allegedly referenced the Chief of Staff to the Lagos state governor, Tayo Ayinde. 

    “Though the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi and other prominent Obas and stakeholders across Yoruba land had intervened and waded in to ensure unity and peace across board, it must be stated also that the leadership of Yoruba Alliance Forum will continue to foster peace, part of which, was the audience we had with Iba Gani Adams, today through a telephone conversation.

    “Now that we have a president coming from the Southwest and a Yoruba son, we must also be conscious of the fact that many would not be happy with this.

    “That is why all the stakeholders as well as our freedom fighters in Yoruba land must come together as one big family to ensure peace and unity in Yoruba land.

    “We are also appealing to all social media bloggers and loyalists of Iba Gani Adams and Igboho to stop any attempt that can cause division in Yoruba land. All over the world, war usually begins with statements of attack and such could degenerate beyond borders.

    Read Also: Ooni, Iba Gani Adams, others proffer solutions to insecurity in Yorubaland

    “So, as a formidable organization in Yoruba land, we must always adhere to peace. We must also commit ourselves to the peace and unity of Yorubaland, as being propagated by Iba Gani Adams.

    “Therefore, we must know that it is by  being united that we can save Yorubaland from the insidious plans of the enemies of our race,” the YAF boss explained.

  • Yoruba group hails INEC

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has been commended for conducting credible, free and fair elections.

    The governors-elect of Lagos and Ogun states, Babajide Sanwo-Olu and Dapo Abiodun, and all lawmakers-elect from the South West were also congratulated on their victory in the just-concluded gubernatorial and legislative elections.

    The commendation and congratulatory messages were contained in a statement

    issued by the Yoruba self-determination group, the Coalition of Odua Self- determination  Group (COSEG), after  its meeting on  Thursday.

    The statement signed by its Chairman of the Coordinating Council ,Dayo Ogunlana, reads in part: “We commend INEC for a fantastic job done so far. We shall not join detractors to draw you back. We must hail you for your fairness because this was the first time the governors who always saw themselves as emperors were on their toes genuinely canvassing for votes. At the end, you ensured that people’s votes matter and clearly we were able to vote in or out candidates. We call on you to ensure continuity of this fairness in the rescheduled elections.

    “We congratulate the newly elected governor of Lagos State whose background has shown clearly that he is a man of honour. His campaign was marvellous and issues-driven. We have no reason to doubt his competence as we are sure that during his time, Lagos will witness even development throughout the state and it will surely rank among the best cities in the world, and as such, Yoruba and other residents will be proud of him.

    “We also congratulate the incoming governor of Ogun State, Prince Dapo Abiodun, who will lead Ogun well, be a listening governor and deliver on the campaign promises he made during the electioneering  as the state deserves the best now.

    “We must congratulate Engineer Ganiyu Johnson, the man of the people whose genuine long-term welfare for the populace ensured his victory. We congratulate Hon. Mudashiru Obasa(Agege), the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly;  Hon.Comrade Muyiwa Jimoh( Apapa) and other legislators in the South West. We hope that their tenure will not be a distraction to the government of the day, but a tenure that will ensure quality bills are passed and people’s welfare are promoted.

    “The generalissimo of politics in Nigeria, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, should be commended too for his political exploits. He has been able to dislodge the Saraki dynasty from Kwara State. Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola also deserves praises for standing firm with Asiwaju. He is a man to be trusted”.

  • Leave Obasanjo alone, Yoruba group tells Soyinka

    The Yoruba Consultative Forum (YCF) has condemned what it called a campaign of undisguised calumny by Nobel Laurette Professor Wole Soyinka against former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

    In a statement yesterday in Lagos by its President, Professor Tejumade Akintoye Rhodes, YCF said: “Prof Wole Soyinka has definitely crossed the bar of decency and civilised literary grace.

    “At a time when everyone is nudging Obasanjo forward as the courageous rallying point against the present dislocations in our polity, Soyinka is salivating in some primitive laceration of the old soldier, revelling in poisonous vendetta and egregious abuse against Obasanjo.

    “In Soyinka’s warped cosmology, he insists that Obasanjo is not the fit and proper person to lead the new movement against the warped national polity. This is malicious, undignifying, spurious, a drooling mechanical twaddle bound for literary garbage.

    “Of course, Obasanjo, like all of us, is not perfect. But he is a courageous man, a superlative patriot who contends with any errant power with thorough sincerity, with masterful resolve to rectify the observable wrongs.

    “Soyinka has now eroded his once Sterling Heights of great crusader and crashed his status to a Lilliputian pamphleteer, angry at the world and pouring venom everywhere without tactical purity.”

    The group said it resolved to engage Soyinka “with balanced intellectual vigour wherever he erupts again in his crude vitriol against Obasanjo”.

    It added: “Enough is enough.”

     

  • Yoruba group to Ohanaeze: Nigeria greater than politics

    The Yoruba Ronu Leadership Forum yesterday urged Igbo socio-cultural group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, to consider Nigeria as greater than politics.

    In a reaction to Ohanaeze’s statement on President Muhammadu Buhari’s Democracy Day address, the group, in a statement by its Secretary General, Akin Malaolu, said the Ohanaeze leadership should rise above pettiness.

    It said: “Chief John Nwodo, the Ohanaeze leader, should remember that language is the conduits through which knowledge and ideas are transmitted. A misdirection can lead to chaos, disrespect for lawful orders and can regenerate or degenerate into spasms of communal bloodlettings.”

    It added: “President Buhari had many times shown in deeds and in words efforts to reign in blatant and heinous crimes. Security agents are showing a better understanding of the issues so is the National Assembly.

    “Many people are being arrested for participating in crimes, killings in many states in the Middle Belt. Arms are being seized and people are being prosecuted.

    “The least a group like Ohanaeze should do is to encourage all the moves being made to end killings.

    “The National Assembly, which was initially hesitant on security developments, is now asking security chiefs to submit budgets for funding.”

  • Yoruba group supports restructuring  

    A Pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, Yoruba KO’YA Movement, has presented a 10-page policy paper on the restructuring of Nigeria’s political, economic and social structures to Speaker of Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa.

    The group also called on the Federal Government to grant Lagos State a special status.

    The National Organising Secretary, Comrade Adeyemi Adeleye, who addressed reporters yesterday, said the policy paper is to formalise and institutionalise its agitation for the betterment of the Yoruba nation and Nigerian state as a whole.

    He said: “Every conscious and passionate Nigerian should join the call for restructuring. The government spends N300 billion per annum on importation of Bitumen, whereas the deposit of bitumen in Irele, Okitipupa, Ilaje and Ese-Odo Local Government Areas of Ondo State is the largest in Africa, but Governor Rotimi Akeredolua cannot explore  because he does not have the power to do so unless Abuja permits him. This is unacceptable…”

    Obasa’s aides, Miss Aishat Durojaiye and Timothy Oluwafemi, said the Speaker was attending the University of Lagos (UNILAG) convocation ceremony with Governor Akinwumi Ambode.

    They promised to deliver their message to him.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Yoruba group joins calls for restructuring of Nigeria’s federal system

    A Yoruba socio-political group, Atayese, has called restructuring of Nigeria’s federal system.

    The Chairman of the group,Tokunbo Ajasin, spoke during the election of the new executives of the group in Ibadan.

    He said the founding fathers had agreed that Nigeria would be “a truly federal state with limited and specific powers allocated to the Federal Government, and residual powers inherent in the regional governments”.

    According to him, this agreement was the social contract upon which the Nigerian state was formed.

    He said teh group was trying to bring together all the tribes in Yorubaland.

    He said the group is against the recent constitutional review, noting the interest of all the Yoruba people must be protected.

    “The present constitution we are using was made by colonial masters and the military, and it was not a constitution that was made by the people. We need one that is genuine. The present situation in the country was caused by overdependence of states on federal government, whereas it should be the Federal Government that will depend on state for its finances. Each state should be ordinarily be self-sufficient and control its resources,” Ajasin said.

    Ajasin said true federalism would encourage equitable distribution of wealth.

  • Yoruba group hails Plateau governor

    The Omo Oodua Yoruba Community in the 19 northern states and the Federal Capital Territory has passed a vote of confidence on the Plateau State governor, Barrister Simon Bako Lalong.

    This was contained in a communiqué signed by the national leader and president general, Chief Toye Ogunshuyi, together with the National Secretary General, Azeez Salaudeen, and the Plateau State chapter president, Tunde Oladapo, on Friday.

    The group commended the governor, among other things, for his transparency, especially towards the successful completion of the recently concluded Ondo elections, in which Barrister Rotimi Akeredolu emerged winner. It also hailed his people-oriented programmes, carrying other ethnic groups along in his governance, which they described as a good template toward promoting peace.

    Also commending the present administration of President Buhari and Vice President Osinbajo for not giving room for ethnic, tribal or religious sentiments, the group urged all Yoruba leaders, particularly the Omo Oodua Yoruba community in the 19 Northern states and the FCT to support the present administration by not partaking in anything that will truncate the peace and harmony in the zone.

    It also praised the presidency for keeping its promise of payment of N5,000 stipend to the down-trodden in society, while advising that it should be promptly extended to other states.

    It praised the Kano State governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, for appointing one of its members, F. Y. Bimbo, as his Senior Special Assistant on Inter-community Relations in Kano State and sympathised with the people and government of Niger State over the recent death of its former governor, Engr Abdullahi Kure.

  • Yoruba Group slams call for sack of Kuku

    Yoruba Group slams call for sack of Kuku

    Yoruba socio-cultural group, the National Committee of Yoruba Youths(NCYY), has condemned the call for the sack of the Chairman of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Kingsley Kuku, by a group

    The group, Niger-Delta Awareness Coalition and Ex-Militant Forum, recently called for the sack of Mr Kuku, on the allegation of fraud.

    Addressing reporters yesterday in Ibadan, the President of NCYY, Odeyemi Oladimeji, described the group as faceless adding that it was hired by desperate politicians to start campaign of calumny against Kuku.

    “We have carefully watched events as they unfold in our nation and this is another method by some people to destroy the legacy of a man, who symbolises anything good that could come out of the Yoruba race and Nigerian youths.

    “We have taken this as a concern not because of the person involved, but also because some of our promising youths are being induced by some politicians and ethnic chauvinists to distract Kuku and the amnesty programme” he said

    According to Oladimeji, since the beginning of the programme in 2010, about 20,000 Niger-Delta youths have been trained at home and abroad in vocational skills.

    The NCYY president added:” With PAP, Niger-Delta youths, whose violent agitation almost brought our country to a standstill economically, are well trained and the country’s crude production, which fell from 2.2 million barrels per day to as low as 700,000 barrels per day,is now between 2.4 million and 2.6 million barrels per day.”