Sola Ojo, Kaduna
Yoruba Community in Northern Nigeria on Sunday described the desecration of the Oba of Lagos Palace by hoodlums as an insult to the Yoruba race.
The group, therefore, demanded that, the hoodlums who hijacked #NDSARS protest to perpetrated the irresponsible act must be fished out and punished accordingly to guide against a repeat.
President-General of the Yoruba Community in 19 Northern States and FCT, Liadi Olayinka Olapade, stated this in Kaduna while speaking at annual Yoruba Day in Kaduna State.
He noted that, though the violence that ended the #EndSARS protests did not emanate from the real protesters, the protest was dragged for too long and could not have ended without infiltration by hoodlums.
“The incident in Lagos is an unfortunate one. Nothing should have been done to desecrate the Palace of the Oba of Lagos or our culture. The Oba is not an individual, he is an institution. So, the desecration of the Palace is not just an insult to the Oba, but an insult to the Yoruba tradition.
“So, I think from that angle, we condemn the whole thing. And those responsible for that act should be fished out and punished according to the law of the land.
“Talking about the #EndSARS protest, everybody has appreciated the fact that our youths need to be supported, they deserved to be helped to come up, but we should not do that, at the expense of whatever we hold high.
“I also agree that the violence part of whatever happens didn’t occur from the #EndSARS protesters, but my quarrel with the whole thing is that it was dragged for too long and there is no way, even if the soldiers didn’t shoot anybody at Lekki, there is bound to be infiltration by the hoodlums.
“Nigerian youths should know that their future is in their own hands. They should not rely on the belief that everything they need to do must be government propelled. The time that people like Professor Wole Soyinka, Tai Solarin and even General Yakubu Gowon came to limelight, they were youths.
“So, the youths must have confidence in themselves that, they are the ones the nation needs to turn its fortunes around and make things better, but not true violence,” Olapade said.
Also speaking the Convener of the event and Youth Leader of the Yoruba Community, Alhaji AbdulFatah Oriyomi Lawal said, the leadership of the Yoruba Community played a great role in managing peace in the North during the #EndSARS protest, especially among its members.
