Please bear with me, I know I should have posted this under "laugh it off". As you are aware the Egbe Omo Oduduwa have been waging a "paper" war to reclaim Ilorin. They have eventually taken it a step further by invading Ilorin from all the Yoruba states for the mother of all Pan Yoruba conference. But guess what? Not only did the Nigerian boys brigade a.k.a police force stop them from even saying the opening prayers, 14 of their "leaders" were collected like snail and dumped in the police cell. There was no bang nevermind whimper! Bamidele, na where you dey? Hahaha!
Maybe Tempo will now publish the speech they never made. Chei! "The man died".
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Policemen stop pan-Yoruba confab, arrest 14
Vanguard
(Wednesday, July 4th, 2001)
By Demola Akinyemi

ILORIN— ANTI-riot policemen yesterday dispersed participants at a pan-Yoruba conference in Ilorin and arrested fourteen of the Yoruba leaders at the conference.

Among those arrested were Kwara State-based architect, Tunde Ogunniyi and Dr. Kola Olatimilan and two local government chairmen.

Participants from Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Ondo, Ekiti and Lagos States who arrived Circular Hotel, Ilorin, venue of the conference as early as 10.00am were chased out from the Hall by the Anti-riot mobile policemen, who came fully loaded in their truck with number plates NPF499C.

As the participants flooded New Tidi road, after being chased out of Circular Hotel, the organisers met immediately and moved the venue of the conference to 17, Ejiba Street Ilorin, a few metres to Architect Ogunniyi’s residence. The police again trailed them there, dispersed them and got the leaders arrested.

The secretary of Kwara Yoruba Forum, Mr. Omotayo Omidiji in a statement said the forum was established to serve as a vanguard of the struggle of the Kwara Yorubas to achieve their genuine desire for self-determination, political emancipation, economic progress and restoration of due recognition to their traditional institutions and values."

Omidiji posited that the characteristics of the Nigerian state were imposed on them by the colonial masters without due considerations, stressing that the forum rejected the 1999 constitution "because the process that produced it was not credible and the product itself is an imposition and short of our expectations. We believe that only a true federal constitution freely produced by the Nigerian people themselves can ensure their peaceful co-existence, progress, happiness and prosperity."

The Kwara Yoruba Forum he said "realised that it was an anomaly to group some Yoruba land as part of the northern region. We know that it as not the free will of the Yorubas in the north to be made a minority in a country where they naturally belong to the majority group."

He said that the Kwara Yoruba Conference was chosen as a deliberate strategy "to build a durable consensus of opinion in support of and give legitimacy to our efforts to realise the genuine desire of our people to freely decide on which of the geo-political zones they wish to belong". The objective of the planned conference, he stressed, "are to aggregate the various opinions on the issue, provide forum for the various groups and individuals who are truly concerned to express their opinions on the issue and draw up a programme of action on how to organise and prepare our people for a referendum on this belief that given the democratic dispensation under which we operate now, any group can initiate a process."

Meanwhile, the head of the anti-riot mobile policemen, DSP E. A. Aina who spoke with Vanguard could not explain why they disrupted the conference.

His words, "I’m a chief messenger and these are the messengers (pointing to others). So truly, I don’t know the reason we stopped this conference."

The Kwara State Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Gazali Lawal in his own comments when contacted said ten leaders and not fourteen as widely believed were invited for questioning and not arrested.

He reasoned that the conference was stopped because of an earlier letter written to the police command by members of Oodua Peoples Congress that the police should be prepared for another invasion, anytime from now.

What you see is a crude country, crude govt, with crude law enforcement hoodlums who are highly illeterate, without an inkling of the workings of the rule of law. To say that I have contempt for them is an understatement. There's no progressive minded person who would want to associate self with this country and its rulers.

As for the Yoruba, Odua land has simply being raped by the northern jihardists and in the face of their feebleness, the Odua children have decided to enjoy the rape. Look at this..."The Kwara Yoruba Forum he said "realised that it was an anomaly to group some Yoruba land as part of the northern region..." I think its too little, too late. Bamidele and Folanke's people are very much under siege. It's a given that they'd all be islamicized after 2003.

Lets look at it from another angle and congratulate these "brave hearts" (OU apologies ) because this is the nearest thing to a principled stand I have seen from Yoruba leaders of thought since Aremu's ascendancy to his infamous throne.

Now would you rather the likes of Bamidele, a slave who rejoices at the fat crumbs his master throws his way, or these "brave" ones who at least gathered for a meeting . Let's not forget the OPC gave us a date for the installation of the Illorin OBA, they might still surprise us.