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Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24, 2021 — 15<br />
:Vanguard<br />
News<br />
Amotekun a forerunner to<br />
state police —Afenifere<br />
By Dayo Johnson<br />
AKURE—THE Pan-<br />
Yoruba Sociopolitical<br />
organisation,<br />
Afenifere, said,<br />
yesterday, that the<br />
creation of the South-<br />
West security outfit,<br />
codenamed Amotekun, is a<br />
forerunner to state police.<br />
A delegation of the group<br />
led by its General-Secretary,<br />
Basorun Sehinde<br />
Arogbofa, said this during<br />
a visit to Governor Rotimi<br />
Akeredolu of Ondo State,<br />
in Akure.<br />
Arogbofa commended the<br />
chairman of the South-West<br />
Governors’ Forum for his<br />
tenacity and bravery on the<br />
creation of Amotekun in the<br />
region.<br />
The Afenifere scribe said:<br />
“We salute your courage.<br />
We saw the Amotekun<br />
thing as a forerunner to the<br />
state police.<br />
“The creation of<br />
Amotekun is a forerunner<br />
to the state Police which<br />
Afenifere has always<br />
advocated.<br />
“What can any<br />
government do without<br />
security? The security of<br />
lives and property should<br />
be a priority. We commend<br />
you.<br />
“We acknowledge the<br />
leadership of Governor<br />
Akeredolu in bringing<br />
together the Southwest<br />
governors to tackle<br />
insecurity and making the<br />
security of lives and<br />
properties of the people a<br />
priority.<br />
Restructuring is<br />
not secession<br />
Final burial for<br />
Pa Iyaogeh<br />
April 2<br />
THE Iyaogeh family of Apana-<br />
Uzairue in Etsako West local<br />
government area of Edo State has<br />
announced the transition to glory<br />
of Pa Thomas Iyaogeh, on<br />
November 20, 2020, and has since<br />
been buried.<br />
Final burial ceremony begins<br />
with traditional rites at Iyaogeh<br />
family compound, Apana-<br />
Uzairue, on April 2, 2021 at 9 am.<br />
Social outing will take place on<br />
April 3, 2021, at St. Philip’s<br />
Catholic Church, beside Azama<br />
Primary School, Jattu-Uzairue, at<br />
12 noon, while thanksgiving<br />
service will take place at the same<br />
venue, at 8 am.<br />
• Late Pa Iyaogeh<br />
• Restructuring is<br />
not secession<br />
—Akeredolu<br />
Responding, Governor<br />
Akeredolu hailed Afenifere<br />
for acknowledging his<br />
efforts on security, while<br />
stressing that the security of<br />
lives and property is<br />
crucial.<br />
The governor said:<br />
“Thank you for noting our<br />
efforts on the security of the<br />
state. You have captured it<br />
succinctly in a way that you<br />
can’t put it better. We met<br />
with a lot of forces and it was<br />
not easy and it is still not<br />
easy.<br />
“When you are forced into<br />
a corner where you have a<br />
security outfit without the<br />
right to carry the right arms,<br />
but we thank God that in<br />
all of Amotekun’s efforts, we<br />
have not suffered any<br />
casualty.<br />
“Amotekun is going to be<br />
a forerunner for state<br />
police. We believe that our<br />
security architecture needs<br />
total restructuring. There<br />
must be a multi-level<br />
system of policing.<br />
“This is where I believe<br />
part of the issue of<br />
restructuring lies. People,<br />
who thought restructuring<br />
is about secession, are<br />
wrong. We must restructure<br />
fiscal policy. We must restructure<br />
to show true federalism.<br />
“President Muhammadu<br />
<strong>Buhari</strong> has done a few things on<br />
restructuring more than any<br />
President. But we are still<br />
clamoring for more.<br />
On ranching, he said: “We are<br />
not going to give our land to<br />
foreigners. But ranches are<br />
important.”<br />
Igwe Ogbobe<br />
loses wife<br />
THE traditional ruler of<br />
Uvuru, Uzo-Uwani<br />
LGA in Enugu State, Igwe<br />
Daniel Ogbobe, has lost his<br />
wife, Lolo Josephine Uzo-<br />
Onisha Ogbobe, after a<br />
brief illness, at the age of<br />
75. Burial cceremonies will<br />
commence from May 14,<br />
2021, with service of<br />
songs\requiem mass in the<br />
Igwe’s palace, Ugbene<br />
Uvuru, at 6pm. Lying in<br />
state will be on May 15,<br />
followed by funeral service<br />
at St. Patrick’s Catholic<br />
Church, Uvuru. Interment<br />
and reception follow at the<br />
Igwe's palace and village<br />
square, respectively. She is<br />
survived by her husband,<br />
children<br />
grandchildren.<br />
and<br />
• Late Lolo Ogbobe<br />
:@vanguardnews :@vanguardnews NEWS HOTLINES: 08052867023, 08052867058<br />
UNVEILING—From left: Risqat Kamson, Lagos State Quality Assurance Officer, TB Programme;<br />
Prince Elochukwu Adibo, Laboratory Director, EL-LAB Diagnostics and National President, Guild<br />
of Private Medical Laboratory Directors; Dr. Agbolagorite Olurotimi, Director of Disease Control,<br />
Lagos State, representing the state's Commission for Health, Dr. Sokoya, Lagos State TB Programme<br />
Manager; Dr. Ndidi Nwosu, Team Lead, IO. USAID ShopsPlus; Mrs. Ayodele Iroko, Senior Private<br />
Sector Advisor, USAID ShopsPlus, during the unveiling of 16 modular GeneExpert Tuberculosis<br />
testing machine, donated by USAID, in Lagos.<br />
South-West: Calls for secession out of<br />
frustration —Fayemi<br />
• As Yoruba group dares Akeredolu, plans 1m march in Akure<br />
• Yoruba in Diaspora hold dialogue on restructuring<br />
By Dapo Akinrefon,<br />
with agency report<br />
L AGOS—GOVERNOR<br />
Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti<br />
State said yesterday that<br />
those calling for secession<br />
were doing so out of<br />
frustration.<br />
Fayemi spoke a day after<br />
his Ondo State counterpart,<br />
Rotimi Akeredolu,<br />
dissociated his state from<br />
the calls for the secession<br />
of the South-West from<br />
Nigeria.<br />
But the Ilana Omo<br />
Oodua, led by a renowned<br />
Professor of History, Banji<br />
Akintoye, yesterday, tackled<br />
Governor Akeredolu,<br />
saying he spoke only for<br />
himself, and not the people<br />
of Ondo State.<br />
Fayemi on<br />
secession<br />
Speaking on Arise<br />
Television yesterday,<br />
Fayemi said such agitation<br />
was expected, considering<br />
the stress and laxity in the<br />
society.<br />
The governor said:<br />
“Frankly, when you have<br />
stress and laxity in the<br />
society, you’re bound to find<br />
a whole range of responses.<br />
Some rational, some<br />
irrational, some that speak<br />
to the fears of the people,<br />
some opportunistic and<br />
harebrained.<br />
‘’There’s no question that<br />
some of the reactions we’ve<br />
seen will fall into all of those<br />
categories.”<br />
While expressing<br />
optimism that the country<br />
would triumph and survive<br />
the challenges currently<br />
facing it, Fayemi said the<br />
time had come for the<br />
devolution of power, adding<br />
that the country needed to<br />
adopt other measures at<br />
managing its diversity.<br />
“I have gone on record to<br />
say that I have unfailing<br />
optimism that despite all our<br />
challenges, this country will<br />
triumph and we’ll survive<br />
current challenges.<br />
‘’We, as leaders, must<br />
focus on the goal of<br />
protecting lives and<br />
property, and focus on<br />
safety and security as the<br />
primary responsibility that<br />
we have.<br />
“The people who are<br />
talking about secession,<br />
frankly, are doing it out of<br />
frustration. I don’t think<br />
that’s the solution to the<br />
Nigerian predicament right<br />
now.<br />
“In matters of economic<br />
development, we may need<br />
to begin to look at other<br />
ways of managing diversity<br />
and differences in our<br />
country and that devolution<br />
of power is an idea whlch<br />
time has come.”<br />
Yoruba group<br />
dares Akeredolu,<br />
plans 1m man<br />
march in Akure<br />
Reacting to Akeredolu’s<br />
declaration Monday that<br />
Ondo State would not be a<br />
party to the secessionist<br />
plan of such persons as<br />
Igboho, the Ilana Omo<br />
Oodua said the agitation for<br />
self-determination “shall be<br />
bloodless, intellectually<br />
rooted, legally grounded.”<br />
The group is the umbrella<br />
body of Yoruba Self-<br />
Determination Groups<br />
within and beyond the<br />
shores of Nigeria.<br />
In a statement by Messrs<br />
Kunle Adesokan and<br />
Folashade Olukoya, Ilana<br />
Omo Oodua challenged<br />
Governor Akeredolu to<br />
allow it hold its planned one<br />
million man march in<br />
Ondo State “without<br />
unleashing the<br />
instrumentalities of terror<br />
and state-sponsored<br />
commercial thugs on the<br />
masses of the state that<br />
desire an autonomous<br />
Yoruba Nation.”<br />
The statement read: “We<br />
wish to say very clearly that<br />
Akeredolu is entitled to his<br />
opinion. He has only<br />
spoken for himself. If he is<br />
sure he speaks for the<br />
classical masses of Ondo<br />
State, he should allow us<br />
to stage our one million<br />
march peacefully in Akure,<br />
Ondo State capital, to prove<br />
whether he spoke for Ondo<br />
State people or himself.<br />
“We are saying for the<br />
sake of clarity that what we<br />
declared is the sovereignty<br />
of Yoruba Nation from<br />
Nigeria and not secession<br />
from Nigeria. We want an<br />
autonomous Yoruba<br />
Nation.<br />
“We want to determine<br />
how we want to govern our<br />
people. We want to control<br />
and manage our resources.<br />
We want to police and<br />
secure the lives and<br />
property of our people.<br />
“We have made our<br />
position known. Our<br />
agitation for autonomous<br />
Yoruba Nation is legally<br />
grounded, intellectually<br />
rooted and it shall be executed<br />
By Olasunkanmi Akoni<br />
LAGOS—AMID the<br />
threat of secession in<br />
Nigeria, Governor Babajide<br />
Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State,<br />
yesterday, urged religious<br />
leaders to support<br />
government in propagating<br />
peace, in the quest to build<br />
a better and thriving society.<br />
Sanwo-Olu gave the<br />
charge at the 40 days final<br />
burial ceremony of late<br />
Alhaji Lateef Jakande, the<br />
first civilian governor of<br />
Lagos State, held at the<br />
Police College Pavilion, in<br />
Ikeja.<br />
The governor,<br />
represented by his Deputy,<br />
Obafemi Hamzat, said:<br />
“Religion is the strongest<br />
pillar in Nigeria, people<br />
respect their religious<br />
leaders and they listen to<br />
without shedding of blood."<br />
Yoruba in<br />
Diaspora hold<br />
dialogue on<br />
restructuring<br />
Also, a Diaspora Yoruba<br />
coalition, Yoruba One Voice, YOV,<br />
is set to hold a webinar lecture on<br />
the current state of Nigerian<br />
federalism and what may become<br />
of it.<br />
In a statement by the Secretary-<br />
General of the Diaspora Group,<br />
Dr. Sina Okanlomo, the coalition<br />
said the webinar dialogue will hold<br />
on Saturday, March 27 at 5 pm<br />
Nigerian time.<br />
Okanlomo stated that the lead<br />
speaker for the dialogue is the<br />
renowned scholar of Legal<br />
History at the Obafemi Awolowo<br />
University, Ile-Ife, Prof. Akin Alao.<br />
The theme of the dialogue,<br />
which will be live on Webinar, is:<br />
‘Dealing With The Critical Fault-<br />
Lines Of A Federation: Is It To<br />
Unbundle Or Restructure The<br />
Leviathan?’<br />
Secession: Lagos tasks<br />
religious leaders on peaceful<br />
coexistence<br />
them. So, please don’t<br />
leave the preaching of<br />
moral values to the<br />
government alone.<br />
“Nigeria must not<br />
disintegrate; men of honour<br />
must strive to hold the<br />
country together.”<br />
Also speaking, Governor<br />
Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto<br />
State urged the Lagos State<br />
government to complete the<br />
Blue Rail, to ease<br />
transportation for the<br />
masses, saying: “It is a<br />
testament to the late Alhaji<br />
Jakande’s memory.”<br />
Tambuwal stated that the<br />
late Jakande had a huge<br />
impact on Lagos and the<br />
nation, having served the<br />
state with so much<br />
“compassion and<br />
humility.”.<br />
He urged all to learn from<br />
the late Jakande in terms<br />
of vision and commitment<br />
to building a viable state.