Nigerians in Diaspora back Afenifere on confab

[Mirror]

Nigerians in the United States of America (USA), at the weekend, came out in support of the pan- Yoruba association, the Afenifere that has been canvassing the full participation of the Yoruba people of the South-West geo-political zone in the proposed national conference.

They contended that the conference will be of immense benefit to the area that has suffered neglect in the past due to the boycott of similar exercises.

The citizens, under the auspices of the Oodua Nation in the North America, appealed to people of the South-West, which is mainly under the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) to discountenance calls on them to boycott the national dialogue.

The group's leader, Mr. Samuel Ayodele, who disagreed with a statement credited to APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu that the conference was a sham, which the South-West would not participate in, however, supported the position of Afenifere leaders that it would be in the interest of the Yoruba to participate in the confab to protect their interests.

In a statement e-mailed to journalists in Ado Ekiti yesterday, Ayodele also disagreed with the plan to present the outcome of the conference to the National Assembly for ratification, saying such might rubbish and derail the objectives of the process.

The statement reads in part: "We also wish to state categorically that we are against the submission of the final report of the conference to the National Assembly which does not seem to represent the general interests of our people, while commending the Federal Government for proposing the conference.

"We also want to submit that the report of the conference should be subjected to a referendum, the final product must not be tampered with and also should not be treated like the previous ones that never saw the light of day.

"We also urge our Yoruba people all over the world to rally round in support of this conference, because historically our boycott of similar conferences and many other things in the past have set the Yoruba back, whereas the other geopolitical zones have benefited immensely because of their participation," the group stated.

Source: Nigerians in Diaspora back Afenifere on confab