Southwest Will Not Support Yoruba Nation – Akeredolu

The Chairman of the Southwest Governors’ Forum and Ondo State Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, on Friday said that the region will not support agitators for Oodua Nation, and warned those agitating to perish the thought.

Akeredolu noted that for the unity of Nigeria many lives have been laid down, vowing that Southwest will not allow any agitation that will scuttle the sacrifices of the Nation’s heros.

A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Richard Olatunde, on Friday said Akeredolu stated this at the launching of emblem appeal to flag off the 2023 Armed Forces Remembrance Day Celebrations held at the State Internal Revenue Service (ODIRS) Hall, Akure, the state capital.

He also stressed that the country is too important to him and his administration, adding that no sit-at-home order will be tolerated in any state in the region.

According to the Governor, a repeat of the menace of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) as it in the Southeast must not be allowed in the Southwest, especially now that presidency is likely to come to the South.

The Governor said: “Those clamouring for Oodua nation will not succeed. People have not laid down their lives for this country for unscrupulous individuals to scuttle it. This country is very important to some of us.

“We recognize the right of the people to protest or agitate. But if the police feel your actions are treasonable, they will arrest and prosecute you.

“It is not at this stage in the history of this country that we will repeat IPOB in Yoruba land. Opportunity beacons at us. We cannot afford to throw away that opportunity.

“We must work to ensure that there is power shift. The opportunity for presidency to come to the south, especially the Southwest, is around the corner.

“We will not sit down and support anyone clamouring for Oodua nation. We will not support it. We have fought for this with everything we had. Nigeria will be good.

“The security agencies will checkmate these unscrupulous enemies embarking on such frivolous activities. We have responsibilities now to soberly reflect on the plight of those who have laid down their lives and those who are still laying down their lives for the unity and peace of this country.”

It would be recalled that a Yoruba Nation agitator, Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho, was arrested in Cotonou, Benin Republic in July 2021 by security operatives in the West African country, after fleeing Nigeria to evade arrest by the Department of State Services (DSS).

Akeredolu particularly saluted the selfless and sacrificial services of the fallen heroes who had laid down their lives in wars and peacekeeping missions around the world, and those currently serving, day and night, to guarantee the peace and unity of the country.