‘Ali should apologise to Yoruba’

A Pan Yoruba socio-political and cultural organisation, the Coalitition

of Oodua Self Determination Groups (COSEG), has flayed the former

National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Ahmadu Ali, for making derogatory remarks abou Yoruba.

The group said that Ali’s description of Yoruba as an “ungrateful people”, was unfortunate.

Also, the President of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), Dr. Fredrick Fasehun, has also dismissed Ali’s statement, describing it as “a symptom of verbal diarrhoea”. He said: “The former Education Minister, whose mishandling of a students’ crisis led to the death of several youths in 1978, was as insensitive, reckless and narcissistic as ever.”

In a statement in Lagos, COSEG chairman, Dayo Ogunlana, and secretary, Rasaq Olokoba, expressed disappointment over Ali’s comment, describing it as “uninformed, off the target and mischievous.”

The group lamented that the politician had disrespected the race that has produced legenda, the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Professor Wole Soyinka, and the late Professor Ayodele Awojobi.

COSEG said: “Ali’s recent failure in the contest for the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT) Chairman might have been pushing him to seek relevance in order to warm himself back into the corridor of power for political salvation and rehabilitation.”

The group said that the Third Republic senator had come up with that “ignorant assessment of Yoruba,” urging him to liberate himself from the phobia for a first class race in the black world.

It added: “Ali and others in his shoes should weigh their utterances before vomiting them. The foul comment was least expected of a former Minister of Education, whose role in the 1978 “ALI MUST GO” sad episode resulted in the death of over 10 university students nationwide.”