Members harass convener, as yoruba groups’ meeting ends in disarray

The second meeting of the Assembly of All Yoruba Groups Worldwide in Ibadan, Oyo State, on Thursday, ended in disarray.

The meeting was held at the House of Chiefs, Oyo State Secretariat.

The meeting, which had in attendance many Yoruba groups like the Oodua People’s Congress (Fredrick Faseun’s faction) OPC New Era, Yoruba Youth Socio-Cultural Organisation and other groups from Kwara and Kogi states, was disrupted while the Chief Convener, Victor Taiwo, was addressing the gathering.

Taiwo, who is the author of the book, ‘Nigeria on gunpowder: The climax of misrule’, had circulated his speech but he was heckled by some supporters of Prof. Banji Akintoye, who pre-empted him on the leadership crisis that hit the Yoruba World Congress.

Akintoye had announced the change of name of the YWC to Ilana Omo Oodua on Sunday.

But Taiwo said in the speech that he was the initiator of the Yoruba Council of Elders under the leadership of the late Pa Emmanuel Alayande.

He also said Akintoye degenerated from the status of a Yoruba leader to President-General of the YWC and now President of a splinter group, Ilana Omo Oduduwa, without followers, which he pronounced to the world on October 24, 2020.

But while still reading the speech, the representative of Prof. Akintoye, Kunle Adesokan, interrupted him and others joined him.

The meeting became rowdy and some leaders left. Efforts to calm down the agitated persons were abortive.

The Baale Ekotedo, Ibadan, Chief Taiwo Ayorinde, made efforts to calm them down but his attempts failed.

“When I was talking in the morning, I said we did not come here to remove Banji Akintoye. But we heard that he has gone to another group,” he stated.

But Mr Akinola George said nobody could remove Akintoye as Yoruba leader, because those who were elected into that office before him were never removed. Punch