- Olajide, Agbede now at loggerheads as factions emerge
By TIMOTHY AGBOR, OSOGBO
Since the Secretary-General of the Yoruba Council of Elders, Dr. Kunle Olajide, was suspended indefinitely for allegedly stealing the show at the recent security summit attended by governors in the Southwest in Ibadan, Oyo State, members of the group have been divided, The Point investigation has revealed.
While speaking in Osogbo, Olajide said that his ‘offence’ was that he delivered a speech on behalf of the council at the summit and described the elders, who suspended him, as “senior comedians.”
Olajide’s suspension was part of the decisions taken at the YCE joint meeting of Senior Elders’ Forum and Chairmen of State Chapters, held at the council’s National Secretariat, in Ibadan.
Present at the meeting included Chiefs Mike Omoleye, Jibade Oyekan, Adegboye Onigbinde, Anthony Meraiyebu, Dr. Rasaki Shiyanbola, Prof. Adetoun Ogunsheye, Barr. Akin Akinremi and Com. Sam Agbetuyi.
Our correspondent gathered that there has been a cold war between the YCE President, Col. Ade Agbede (rtd.) and the embattled secretary general over the control of the leadership of the council.
In a communique signed by the President of the Council, Ade Agbede, after the meeting, Olajide was suspended for “reasons of gross misconduct and insubordination,” urging him “to surrender all the Council’s properties and documents in his custody to the President immediately.”
The group also resolved that Sam Agbetuyi should, with immediate effect, take up the position of Assistant Secretary-General 1 for the Council in an acting capacity.
The meeting also resolved and passed a vote of confidence on Agbede as the President of the Council.
Explaining why Olajide was suspended, Agbede said it was part of the association’s “in-house restructuring,” adding, “It is not a big deal.”
He said, “Dr. Kunle Olajide has not been working in tandem with the elders. His show of shame before the presence of the six governors is unpardonable.
“At the security summit, Olajide went to sit in the front with governors and left us. They have asked us to prepare a paper on security. Knowing that I was sitting down, everyone thought he was going to allow me to address the governors, but he stood up and wanted to take my place.
“Notwithstanding the sitting arrangement, it is right that the president should deliver the address. He didn’t participate in the meeting that the council had before the summit and discussion. He decided to steal the show.”
On why YCE has not been reacting to the political events in the country like the Afenifere, Agbede said, “Afenifere is social-political while YCE is socio-cultural. We are projecting the culture and tradition. We are not politicians. We don’t take sides like Afenifere. We are concerned about the survival of the Yoruba Nation.”
But while reacting, the embattled secretary general described his suspension as a joke taken too far by “some senior comedians.”
Olajide said those at the meeting that decided on his
