BY AYO ESAN
NATIONAL Publicity Secretary of Pan-Yoruba Socio-Political Organisation, Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin, has said that the solutions to the insecurity bedeviling the country, especially the farmers-herders clashes, are well spelt out in the report of the 2014 National Conference organised by the former President Goodluck Jonathan administration.
Speaking exclusively with THE POINT at the weekend, Odumakin said, aside from insecurity, the solutions to other problems bedeviling the country had been taken care of by the Confab report.
He said some northern leaders that were saying that restructuring had different meanings to different people were not sincere, noting that there was an agreement on restructuring at the conference.
“There was an agreement. The conference almost broke down on only one thing, that was revenue sharing. We did not agree on that. We said Jonathan should set up a committee to work it out, how we share our money. That was the only area. We agreed on almost 600 other issues. We didn’t vote on any issue, it was by consensus. But immediately Buhari came, he said he would not touch the report.
“We have solved most of the problems, even this issue of herdsmen. We voted for ranches, we said open grazing should be banned. If we had started ranches since 2014, we won’t have the problem we are having now. But because Buhari is the Grand Patron of Miyetti Allah. This is where we are,” Odumakin said.
He also warned the rampaging Fulani herdsmen allegedly attacking Yoruba people in the South West region, that the Yorubas would resist the attempt to turn their land to a land of war.
He said, “To be raping our women every now and then, to be killing our people, we won’t allow that to continue. Imagine what would have happened, if Yoruba boys went to the North to kill their people, kill their Emirs. Can they allow Yoruba youths to go and kill their Emir in the afternoon in the North, in Kano or Kaduna? They are waging war against our people.
“We will continue to resist what they are doing against us and we would not allow any deception like some Governors are coming around to make mockery of us and saying nonsense.
“We are not impressed by that, until they call their people to order, until they condemn the killing, until President Buhari makes the speech that Professor Wole Soyinka asked him to make, to call the herdsmen to order. Not the nonsense we are hearing from his spokesmen, that if he is talking on this, he will become a talkative.”
Odumakin called on the South West Governors to be committed to curtailing the activities of the herdsmen in Yorubaland.
“It is also a challenge to our Governors in the South West. Akeredolu has done well and other governors. We are appealing to them to back Akeredolu. It is not only him that is being affected by this matter. All our states are being affected. And you can’t be playing valentine songs with those who are singing war songs,” he noted.
