More controversy over Lagos at 50 celebration over Wole Soyinka
– Controversy has trialed the appointment of Professor Wole Soyinka as the chairman, planning committee of ‘Lagos at 50’.
– Eko Foundation have kicked against the choice of Professor Wole Soyinka
– CDRP has attacked the Eko foundation over their statement
Prof Wole Soyinka
Controversy has trialed the appointment of Professor Wole Soyinka as the chairman, planning committee of ‘Lagos at 50’.
A group of Lagos indigenes under the aegis of Eko Foundation have kicked against the choice of Professor Wole Soyinka saying that he is not an indigene of Lagos State and has never pretended to be one. Professor Soyinka is from Abeokuta in Ogun State.
It would be recalled that Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State had recently constituted a 12-man 50th Anniversary Committee with Professor Soyinka and Alhaji Rasheed Gbadamosi as the chairman and co-chairman, respectively, for the celebration.
However, in a release jointly signed by Professor Imran Oluwole Smith (SAN) and Kunle Uthman, President and General Secretary, respectively, of Eko Foundation, the group said that although Professor Soyinka has a towering image as an international playwright and scholar, that his choice to chair the committee is wrong and offensive.
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The group said that there is a social disconnect in the choice of the Nobel Laureate “because he has no family house or compound in the geographical conglomeration of the state.”
The group also queried the rationale behind the choice of Soyinka, pointing out that he (Soyinka) “does not speak any of the dialects of the indigenous people and cannot connect with their sights and sounds.”
They urged Soyinka to “do what is right in law, in fact and in morality, by resigning and relinquishing this appointment, in order for an indigene of Lagos State who has a social connection with his people be appointed as chairman of the committee.”
But another group, the Committee for Democracy &Rights of the People (CDRP) has condemned outrightly the unregistered Eko foundation paid advertorial in punch newspaper Wednesday 2nd March 2016 propagating segregation and promoting disunity among the Yoruba sons and daughters.
The group said it is not only in bad faith but also in bad taste and an avenue to promote unnecessary rancour among the Yorubas
According to the national coordinator of the group, Comrade Amitolu Shittu, lagos has never claimed not to be part of Oduduwa, in as much that it is within the Yoruba nation, segregation being triggered by the idle individuals is an aberration.
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“The good work of Awolowo in Yorubaland is unexplainable. Awolowo was never claimed to be a Lagosian when he developed Lagos State. He was never from Osun, he built Almighty Obafemi Awolowo University. He was never from Ibadan, he built Cocoa House and Liberty Stadium. He was never an Oyo man but regarded Yorubas as one,” the group said.
He warned that the development of Yoruba must not be politicised as Yoruba race remains the most developed region in Nigeria.
“We must appreciate the Late Chief Gani Fawehinmi, Chief MKO Abiola, Alfred Rewane, Prof. Wole Soyinka, Alex Ibru Beko Ransome Kuti, Fela Anikulapo. and many other Yoruba CDRPsons and daughters whose contributions put Yoruba nation on the world map.
“The Rights activist therefore insisted that Prof. Wole Soyinka, as one of Yoruba biggest brand alive is eminently qualified to chairman Eko @ 50 and challatans must not allow the politics in vogue to distabilise the unrival unity that has been there over the years among Yoruba people,” he added.
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