Newsbreak: Segun Oni decamps to APC again
By Ayo Akerele
Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress in Ekiti State, Chief Segun Oni has decamped to the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP), Irohinoodua was informed today.
Our impeccable source said the carpet-crossing followed months of negotiations with PDP party leaders in Ekiti State and also at the National level. Oni rule Ekiti State for three and half years before he was removed by the Appeal Court. he also re contested the Governorship election in 2018 but lost in the primary to Fayemi. Ekit has been a dingdong affair of governors who lose their second term bid but stage a come-back to take the seat. Oni has not been able to complete his own circle.
“He called his close aides today. He told us he was done with the APC. He said as from today, Sunday March 15, he would be leaving the APC for the PDP” the source who does not wish to be named told Irohinoodua.
He said further “There will be official statement. I can assure you that Oni is no longer with the APC. The dance is over, we are going home.” The source said Oni left with all his supporters in APC, believed to be the same people that followed him from PDP to the APC years back.
The source said the PDP national leadership has been putting pressure on Oni to leave the party having lost the primary in the build up to the Ekiti State gubernatorial election which saw the emergence of Dr Kayode Fayemi as the elected Governor. The primary was marked by intrigues and horse trading that saw Oni thrown off the ring of contest by entrenched forces in the APC.
Oni came to limelight in 2007 when he was declared the winner of the 2007 election which he contested with Fayemi. The declaration was trailed by massive protests by the masses spearheaded by Fayemi who ignited an unquenchable flame of dissent and resentment against Oni culminating in the Appeal Court sitting in Ilorin declaration of Fayemi as the winner of the election. The campaign to unseat the PDP in Ekiti was backed by renown political forces in Lagos.
Oni had occupied the Governorship seat illegally for three and half years. He was said to have invested on rural roads and agriculture during his 3-year tenure and earned the reputation of a Sparta administrator who nevertheless ran a government devoid of clear ideology propelled by sustainable development policies. His shifty political tradition has seen him moving from PDP to APC where he became the Deputy National Chairman (South) until he resigned to gun for the Ekiti State Governorship race which he lost.
ADDRESS DELIVERED BY MR ADEWALE ADEOYE AT THE TWO-DAY YORUBA MUSLIM-CHRISTIAN YOUTH DIALOGUE HELD ON THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2012 AT THE PARAGON HOTEL, ADENIJI JONES STREET, IKEJA, LAGOS
Greetings to all the Muslim and Christian Leaders present here
In the name of God I welcome you all to this historic event. First of all, permit me to express my profound appreciation for your presence at this historical event. In recent memory, this is the first time young people in the South-West, driven by faith are meeting together, sitting side-by-side as all children of one creator, to take a common position on the future of we the Yoruba people, and by inference the future of this great country, Nigeria.
First, I wish to commend every one that is present here, for the time, the energy and the sense of commitment, the sacrifices you have made, from near and far, to attend this unique and timely summit.
I share a sense of pride, and I hope many of you here also share this with me, as we sit down in this hall, one people, one language and one culture, never allowing faith, creed or religion to colour our common humanity.
There are many reasons why this summit is necessary. As Yoruba people, we have a long history. Our culture remains a source of amazement to many people and even a source of envy to some. Despite the varying religious affiliations, time and time again, our people realize that we are bound together by the same and common ancestry; we are bound together by one language, one culture and shared dreams. For centuries, Muslims and Christians have lived together in peace in the Yoruba territory. We must however, not assume that this enduring peace is mechanistic and that it is not immutable.
For us to sustain this great tradition, we must nurture ideas and institutions that will oil this great virtue, that will water this lofty tree and in fact sustain it.
As stated earlier, we have so many reasons to come together as members of the younger generation since our future is at stake.
For one thing, the last century ended on a bitter note, with wars and conflicts across the world, leading to the death of hundreds of thousands of people, women and children alike. This century has opened up with even greater challenges, both at the local and national frontiers. In Nigeria of today, we are daily confronted with extremism of all sorts; extremism in the realms of politics, economy and culture. Barely half a century ago, the whole world looked up to Nigeria as the savior of Africa, a country that would redeem the floundering cultural heritage of the continent often referred to as the dark spot of the world.
Today, events, by the day are taking ugly turns. Poverty and annihilation have taken firm roots. The armies of hungry, angry and disenchanted youths are growing. Violence has become our companion. Daily we read stories of anguish and pain, of deaths and miseries, hunger and starvation in the midst of plenty that is appropriated by the few.
The most scary dimension is the advent of terrorism in all forms, of young men taking their own lives for their believes, of soldiers raiding and killing whole villages, of mayhem, in the East, West, North and South. Daily we see the heart rending pictures of arms-bearing young people across the country, ready to take human lives for a game.
In the midst of all this, is the threat of religious crisis as we have seen in some parts of the country. This is a huge challenge for young people who are often the perpetrators and the victims of violence.
It is our responsibility in Nigeria, to prevent a slide into anarchy and that great step has started in this room today. It is important for me to realize that these dangerous situations have compelled us to come together in the South West, both Christians and Muslims on the state of the nation and as it affects the Yoruba people and the entire territory of the Yoruba country.
This gathering is for the sake of young and old people, men and women, armed and defenceless people alike. We speak to you as an organisation of Christians and Muslims, the two great faiths God has bestowed on mankind.
We must in this instance, salute the level of tolerance of the South West people, of Muslims and Christians that live in Yorubalandwho for time immemorial, have lived together in peace as one people, one nation, one culture and propelled by one heritage.
We salute our elders, the pioneers of our race, who left behind harmony and peaceful coexistence among Christians and Muslims in Yorubalad, because our great, great grandfathers knew and we also know, that no one can and must judge any man by his religion and that the right to judge belongs to God, our creator. We, Christians and Muslims, in the entire Yoruba Nation, cherish this tradition, it is our strength , it is our power, it is the secret of our existence as Yoruba people, we think we should defend and treasure this might that continues to amaze the world over.
This is our message of peace and brotherhood, calling for us the children of Oduduwa to work out the mechanism that will deepen peace and harmony for the sake of our children, for our today so as to guarantee our tomorrow and for generations unborn.
THE STATE OF THE NATION.
For the past few months, Nigeria has been subjected to unending bombings, targeting worship places. The most intriguing aspect was the bombing of St. Theresa Church in Abuja. The bombing took scores of human lives. Following this event, the militant group, a group issued another ultimatum urging Christians to leave the North. The Group also urged Northern Muslims to quit the South. This situation is a very dangerous scenario which is capable of causing anarchy and more deaths.
We may wish to observe again, that since Nigeria’s amalgamation in 1914 without the opportunity given to the people to chose the kind of country they wish to live in, the country has been squelching in the muddy waters. Since this forceful amalgamation, there have been crisis, death, misery and anguish often propelled by ethnic differences. The situation has not been helped by the dominance of a reactionary political force that hold the country to ransom.
Today, hunger, starvation and penury remain the lot of our people under the garrison Nigerian state.
We, on behalf of Christians and Muslims in Yorubaland condemn in strong terms all forms of violence either targeting Muslims or Christians.
We the Yoruba people must not allow our territory to become a victim of violence. We call on our Muslim and Christian brothers in Yorubaland never to allow religion to divide us. We have been Yoruba before being Christians or Muslims. The relationship between us is blood-bound, it can never be separated by religion. The relationship in us is deeper than any religion. We are all Children of Oduduwa, we came from the same source historically and socially, our great grandfathers were neither Muslims nor Christians. They had their own religion, their own form of worship.
We call on Christian and Muslim leaders to continue to spread the message of peace, preach it in your churches, in your messages in your homes and on the streets, in the farms, on the dining tables and in the street corners. Yoruba is one, one future, one history, one value, one language, one people with shared vision of peace, liberal democracy and human freedom. This we shall defend with all the strength and power given to us by God, our creator.
This is the spirit behind this gathering. I wish you all fruitful deliberations.