By Nehru Odeh
Elder statesman and leader of Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, Pa Ayo Adebanjo has said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is not his enemy but his son, adding that the only difference between them is that they disagree politically.
He also described the president as a loving young man who has never refused granting him any favour he has asked from him, and that the only area where they differ is the national question.
Adebanjo made this statement on Tuesday 21 November 2023 against the backdrop of his insistent clamour for true federalism at the public presentation of “Brutally Frank”, the autobiography of nationalist, activist and frontline politician Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark which held at MUSON Centre Onikan, Lagos.
“Anybody should be concerned about the unity of this country, about the progress of this country. Don’t tell me about any economic programme. Until you change this constitution, you go nowhere And I urge you, I beseech you anybody who is a nationalist, who love this country today, particularly Bola Tinubu,
“I’m happy Professor Bolaji Akinyemi is here. You are his friend (referring to President Tinubu). I’m not his enemy. He is my son. The only difference is that we disagree politically. He ia a loving young man I have never asked for a favour that he has not given me. But the issue is, the question of Nigeria to be together
Adebanjo, who did not mince his words, said the best thing that has ever happenned to Nigeria is the 2014 National Conference that President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration organized. According to him until we go back to the Confab and implement it, the country won’t make any headway in its search for solutions to its economic problems. The elder statesman also said President Jonathan, for organizing the 2014 National Conference, would go down in history as the best president Nigeria ever had.
“Those of you who are younger , who are likely to implement what Nigeria should be, don’t play with the 2014 national conference. Whether you like it or not, Jonathan will go down in history as the best. He did, in my own view, for setting up that conference. And I say publicly again without any fear of contradiction, you can never get the composition of a conference as composed as that conference again in Nigeria. It cuts across everybody in intelligence, the judiciary, the youths, all sorts, no matter. Muslims, Christians, ideologues and all status. And we were lucky to have a Chairman who managed delegates issue and assisted by the professor.
“You can never get anything better. And until you go back to it. The job for us in this country today is to insist that right now this constitution must be changed to federalism in accordance with 2014 National Conference. Don’t waste our money again by setting up any other conference Take that report. Take El Rufai’s report, set up a committee to reconcile and we go where we are going. Any other thing is pretence,” Adebanjo maintained.