The Aare Onakakanfo of Yoruba land, Otunba Gani Adams has commended the Kwara State Government for its cooperation and support for the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC), a Pan-Yoruba nationalist organization.

Speaking during a courtesy visit to the Kwara State Deputy Governor, Kayode Alabi in Ilorin yesterday, Adams said “for the first time, the OPC is receiving attention and unprecedented support from the Kwara State Government.

“This is great and we appreciate the State Government under the effective leadership of Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq and Your Excellency, Kayode Alabi,” he added.

The OPC leader said the organisation was planning to deepen its operations in Kwara State by solidifying its presence and base in all the 16 local government areas of the State.

He also showered praises on Governor Abdulrazaq for his commitment to the Yoruba agenda by giving a nod to the installation of a Yoruba Oba in Ilorin, which has been a long-time desire of the OPC and other Yoruba groups.

In his words “We recall that during the Campaign, the Governor promised us that he would be fully committed to the entrenchment of Yoruba ideals and values in Kwara State and from our observation so far, he appears to be in the sync with that promise.

“The issue of Yoruba Oba is long overdue and we will be very glad to see to its realisation under this current dispensation. While Kwara by geography is in the North, Kwara has huge Yoruba identities, and it is for this reason that we reckon a Yoruba monarch for Ilorin will help to entrench those identities and fully establish Kwara as an Ooduduwa State.”

The Deputy Governor Kayode Alabi, in his own remarks, promised that the State Government would continue to give full and unreserved cooperation to the Yorubas and other indigenous groups, noting that the present administration is for all.

Aare Gani Adams has always held that the installation of a Yoruba Oba in Ilorin is a must. In his book, “My Life and Struggle” published some years ago, Adams declared that there was no going back in installing Oba in Ilorin.

He disclosed that no amount of intimidation can deter him from championing a movement that would see to the installation of a Yoruba traditional ruler in Ilorin.

“I am very happy with Yoruba elders who have embraced the idea but we are not saying that there will be violence in Ilorin. Our rights as a Yoruba nation had been exterminated in Ilorin several years ago when Afonja was on the throne,” an excerpt in a chapter of the book reads.

Also, several Yoruba leaders in Ilorin such as
the President of Afonja Descendants Union, Alhaji Olola Kasum and Alhaji LAK Jimoh have always expressed their hope and determination for the installation of a Yoruba Oba in Ilorin.

It will be recalled that before the last general elections, an Islamic cleric based in Ilorin, Kwara State, Sheikh Abdulrahim Aduranigba, has said that, the emergence of Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq as Kwara governor would pave way for the enthronement of a new royal father in the ancient town of Ilorin to be known as Oba of Ilorin.

Aduranigba, who claimed to be Chief Imam of Yoruba in Ilorin, added that “after winning the next governorship election, we shall have an Oba of Ilorin once our own son, Abdulrahman becomes the governor of the state.

Signed:

Alhaji Oluwadamilare Saka
Oodua People’s Congress,
Kwara State Chapter.