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The Real Reason Alaafin Shunned Ooni’s Caucus

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Mr Akin Osuntokun, the Coordinator of Ooni’s Caucus, a think tank formed by the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, has revealed the real reason Alaafin of Oyo Oba Lamidi Adeyemi III shunned a meeting with the team.

Osuntokun confirmed this in an interview with JESUSEGUN ALAGBE on Sunday.

Osuntokun said the caucus, inaugurated a month ago to act in the collective interest of the Yoruba, visited the Alaafin but were shunned by the monarch.

He noted that the drama at Alaafin’s palace was masterminded and orchestrated by a political officer in the presidency.

Osuntokun said:

“To all of us, whose minds were trained and oriented to work methodically and rationally, it was difficult to make any sense of what happened. Rather than feel honored that a group of accomplished Yoruba sons and daughters were visiting the Alaafin whom we regard as a father figure and patriarch, the press secretary to the Alaafin took to peddling the fiction that we did not get a visiting day appointment. So, why delay us for hours before ascertaining we had no appointment? Is it logical to believe that a delegation of very busy individuals would commit themselves to a perilous and stressful journey from different parts of the country without giving notice and getting acceptance of the same by the personality we were going to visit? That we just mindlessly chose to barge in on the monarch unannounced? How do you square such an idiotic attitude with the fact that we have held high public offices with globally certified rules of protocol and conduct commensurate with best practices? At the end of the day, it was a storm in a teacup. We learnt that the whole drama was masterminded and orchestrated by a bitter and inconsequential political officer in the presidency.”

When Osuntokun was asked to name the political officer, he said;

Osuntokun also spoke on the ongoing trial of Yoruba nation agitator Sunday Igboho.

He confirmed that the caucus will continue to intervene in the matter.

Osuntokun said:

“Of course, it is the obligation and responsibility of all well-meaning Yoruba to do so. You see, Nigeria has a pernicious tradition of blaming the victim. The emphasis on the allegations against Igboho should not blind us to the logic of cause and effect at play here. Is there no cause and effect relationship between the emergence of Igboho and the way this country has been governed since 2015? The frustrated young man is the symptom and not the cause of the incipient implosion of Nigeria. Left uncontested and unattended, the political dysfunction and misgovernance that produce Igboho are guaranteed to keep churning out more and more of his ilk.”

When asked if the caucus is interested in pushing for a presidential candidate for 2023 from the South-West, Osuntokun said:

“That would amount to misplacement of emphasis and priority. The number one priority of Nigeria today should be a comprehensive constitutional restoration and rehabilitation as a condition precedent to making 2023 possible and successful. Prioritising the 2023 presidential election over the challenge of getting to grips with our constitutional dysfunction amounts to walking blindfolded into a charade. It is akin to aiming for the fool’s paradise, aiming for a pie in the sky.”

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