Pan-Yoruba Coalition Apapo Oodua Koya Labels Senator Bamidele ‘A Disgrace To Yoruba Nation’ As Senate Leader Kicks

A coalition of pan-Yoruba groups, Apapo Oodua Koya (AOKOYA) has slammed the senator representing Ekiti Central in the National Assembly, Mr Opeyemi Bamidele, describing him as a disgrace to Yoruba Nation.

The coalition in a media release issued on Thursday, signed by Ahmed Korede, accused Senator Bamidele of betraying his constituency like many of his counterparts have betrayed the Yoruba Nation.

It added that since 1999, Bamidele has done nothing to promote Yoruba interest, despite riding on the crest of Yoruba agitation to climb the political ladder.

The coalition said, “His office located at Mushin was one of the places used by many Yoruba self-determination groups, including the O’odua Peoples Congress (OPC) to hold meetings in the 1990s.

“He was a former President of National Association of Nigerian Students, (NANs) and a sympathiser of the Campaign for Democracy. All these traditions, this history, Bamidele has shamelessly betrayed in deed, in speech and in action.”

The coalition stated that the armed attacks on Yoruba people since 2011 attracted no comments from Bamidele to the extent that four Yoruba traditional rulers have been gunned down by armed bandits, along with hundreds of Yoruba people who have been killed by armed men suspected to be members of Fulani militias.

AOKOYA described Bamidele as ‘extremely opportunistic, cunny and unreliable.’

It said Bamidele is an outstanding enemy of restructuring in Nigeria and “a saboteur of freedom for ethnic minorities”.

AOKOYA, “These traits he has consistently demonstrated in his political career since 1999. That was why he jumped from one party to the other, back and forth, driven by desperation and personal ego.

“Bamidele is known for not picking calls when it has to do with Yoruba issues, when he gives you his number, he might give you up to 10 numbers showing his deceitful and irresponsible character.”

AOKOYA described Bamidele’s response to allegations that he opposed regional government as “weightless and meaningless.”

The coalition stated, “In his characteristic manner, he was evasive on what he said and did not say on regionalism. He has found it difficult to stand on any Yoruba issue. He said he did not speak on Yoruba regionalism but at the same time he has refused to make his stand known on the debate regarding regionalism, being the minimum request of the Yoruba people.

“At critical moments in Yoruba history, Opeyemi is a traitor, a conscious one and agent provocateur in the midst of the long-suffering Yoruba people.”

The statement added, “We assure you, Bamidele that at the fullness of time, you will not have a dignified place in Yorubaland. You are a big disgrace to the Yoruba people, a threat to the collective aspiration of Yoruba people. Today, you are a ‘hero’ as defined by the rogue Nigerian state that feeds on the blood of mankind.”

The coalition said, “The sky and the moon, the stars, the comets and the scurrying cloud will sing the praises of the new Yoruba nation that will emerge from the ruins of the present to the glory of God, the creator of heaven and earth.”

AOKOYA, however, urged Yoruba people to be patient and resilience in the face of provocation and onslaught of policies since 1960 that have reduced Yoruba people to “beggars and scavengers” in their motherland and even across the world.

“We are a great and decent people, a people with glorious past and future that have been chained with the fetters of iron by greedy criminals that dominate the economic and political spaces.

“We Yoruba should take solace in historical truth in the words of the late sage, Obafemi Awolowo that sunrise is bound to succeed nightfall and every darkness will inevitably be defeated by the glow of light,” it affirmed.

Meanwhile, Senate Leader Bamidele has denied working against the interests of Yoruba people in the National Assembly, describing such claims as “baseless and false”.

Bamidele made the clarification in a statement issued by his Directorate of Media and Public Affairs on Wednesday.

Bamidele had been quoted by some media reports as saying, “If we allow the regional system in Nigeria, we would have automatically given the easterners Biafra.”

He, however, challenged anyone with any proof that he made the comment to present the evidence.

“The claim is far from the truth. I never spoke about the return to the regional government at any forum; neither did I make a claim that ‘If we allow the regional system in Nigeria, we would have automatically given the easterners Biafra.’

“It is a sheer case of misinformation and deliberate fake news, which do not in any way represent my worldview about federal governance structure,” Bamidele said.