President
Goodluck Jonathan has a date with Southwest traditional rulers tomorrow.
Twenty-three
obas are due to attend the meeting, an initiative of the President, at the Aso
Rock Villa.
The
Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuade, will lead the traditional rulers, sources
said last night.
“The
obas are going to Abuja at the invitation of the President. He has been
reaching out to the traditional institution in Yorubaland for a while now. The
meeting is as a result of his incessant rapport with the leadership of the obas
in the region.
“He
wants the obas to help him reach out to the political elite in the region ahead
of the 2015 general election. On many occasions, his emissaries have told our
traditional rulers of the President’s desire to have them on his side as he
prepares to battle the opposition in 2015, especially in the Southwest which is
an opposition stronghold.”
It was
gathered that the Ooni personally handled the invitation of the obas for the
meeting.
A few
top obas had allegedly held several meeting with the President before now to
discuss the viability of Jonathan’s 2015 presidential ambition especially as it
concerns voters in the Southwest.
It was
gathered that following extensive discussions, it was agreed that a larger
contingent of traditional rulers from the region should meet with the president
with a view to hearing from him directly on his aspiration and plan for the
geo-political zone.
The
idea is that the visit will avail them of information to pass on to their
subjects on the return from Abuja.
Sources
said: “It is no longer news that Jonathan wants to win the Southwest at all
cost. This meeting is one of the ways he wants to penetrate the region and he
intends to use the traditional rulers to achieve his desire.
“The
number of traditional rulers invited by the organisers for the trip was in
excess of the 23 that agreed to go to Abuja tomorrow. Many of the obas
contacted declined to be part of the team.
“Many
of the obas invited from Osun State turned down the invitation after
considering their relationship with the governor of the state. One of the
traditional rulers declined to be part of the trip. He will be on his way out
of the country tomorrow as a decoy.”
It was
also gathered that the organisers of the trip plan to explain it away as part
of the effort to find an enduring solution to the current security challenges
in the country.
An
activist and leader of the Yoruba Renaissance Movement (YRM) Dr. Seeni
Olaforiju, dismissed the planned meeting as a big disappointment.
His
words:”There is no doubt that these traditional rulers are going to Abuja on
their own accord. They surely do not have the mandate of their people to go and
discuss politics with Jonathan.
“If
they think they can help the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to penetrate the Southwest,
then they are joking because they will fail. Yoruba are no fools and they know
their leaders. Jonathan and the obas are just wasting their time.
“What
has Jonathan done for the Southwest since he came on board? This is a man we
supported when some forces wanted to prevent him from succeeding his late boss.
What we got as a people is nothing but acute marginalisation, disregard and
disrespect at the end of the day. Now he wants to use traditional rulers to
hoodwink us.
“The
fear of the merging political party is leading Jonathan to seek help where he
will not find any. As much as we respect the traditional institution in
Yorubaland, we also know how to say no to those who may want to lead us astray.
The obas can go to Abuja and enter into whatever agreement they like, we will
be waiting for them in 2015.”
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