THE PURPORTED OBASANJO MEETING: Ilana Omo Oodua Knows Nothing About It - Statement

There is a shrill call circulating all over the social media via a video recording by an unidentified individual that there is a meeting of all Yoruba sons and daughters with General Olusegun Obasanjo scheduled for Saturday.

*Ilana Omo Oodua* wishes to emphatically dissociate itself and all its affiliate organizations from the call for, or the organization of, any such meeting.

The former Nigerian President has not informed us, nor called any of our leaders, especially Prof. Banji Akintoye, the leader of the Yoruba Self Determination Movement, to put us on notice.

The video is totally empty on detail and content.

 Many questions abound:

Which Saturday is it being slated for: tomorrow or next week? What date, specifically?

Which Obasanjo house in Sango Ota? His farm is at Ota; There is no place called Sango Ota. His three known houses, or places of abode, are in Abeokuta: on the hill, at the Library and at his family house in the centre of the ancient city.

What is the agenda of such a meeting?

Who convened it? Is it at the instance of Obasanjo himself?

What is the name of the person making the announcement? Which group does he represent or belong to?

Whose interest is he serving?

Who is sponsoring the convergence?

Obasanjo is a Yoruba. He is within his moral right as a Yoruba elder to call for a meeting of Yoruba people of any hue, concerning matters affecting the Yoruba race.

But if it is on the matter of Yoruba self-determination or on the subsisting Yoruba affliction and persecution within Nigeria, getting such a call from an anonymous individual on social media is suspicious and disorienting, to say the least.

The acknowledged leader of the Yoruba self-determination struggle is Prof. Banji Akintoye. Gen Obasanjo, or his representatives or agents could have reached out to him to assemble credible Yoruba groups for such a discussion.

That could have earned the invitation more weight and credibility.

This particular call is uncoordinated, sounds suspicious and would lead to a meeting (if at all any such meeting holds) that is very unlikely to bear any positive fruit for our course.

If anybody chooses to attend the meeting, *Ilana Omo Oodua* states here clearly that he or she does so at his or her own risk.

*Ilana Omo Oodua* is presently inundated with many court cases involving Yoruba sons and daughters illegally arrested, detained or caused to be detained by the Nigerian government.

The attendant expenditure on legal matters and logistics issues is quite challenging.

We may not be in a position to bail out, or rescue, any wayfarer caught in the web of this particular adventure!

Attendee’s discretion is therefore advised.

Thank you.

Opeoluwa Akinola
Secretary General
*Ilana Omo Oodua*