21/09/2021
Akintoye said though some Southerners including former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan had been in power since the return to democratic rule, they operated under the rulership of the north.
He said, “Whoever rules Nigeria rules in the context of a country that is owned and dominated by the north; by north, I mean the north-west.
“Under Obasanjo as President, the northern elite converted the north against the constitution of Nigeria into a separate Islamic state. Obasanjo could not do anything about it… That was a dangerous philosophy that was being foisted upon Nigeria and nobody did anything about it.
“Yes, Obasanjo is a beloved son of the Yoruba race, we love him but we know that he ruled in a situation when the President of Nigeria was beholding on to powers under the tables that the rest of us could not do anything about. Not to talk of (Vice President Yemi) Osinbajo.
“Osinbajo is one of the most educated men who have taken part in the governance of Nigeria, see the thing he is doing, is he doing them freewill?”
Akintoye, the leader of the umbrella body of the Yoruba self-determination group known as Ilana Omo Oodua, and the embattled Yoruba Nation agitator, Sunday Adeyemo, also known as Sunday Igboho, have been seen together at press conferences and rallies championing the cause to secede from the Nigerian state and establish a Yoruba Nation.
When asked why he is embarking on such a mission at his age, the octogenarian replied, “Yes, I am doing it at a late age but if I do not do this, I do not want to go to the grave with a feeling that a country I love and gave my life is dying in my presence and I just stay there until the power of God comes to take me home. No, I want to be able to say to myself that I fought a good fight and when I see Chief (Obafemi) Awolowo, I’d be sure that he would open his arms and welcome me as a good boy. I have to do this now.”
He also assured Yoruba Nation agitators that Igboho would soon regain his freed
