Fasoranti chides Obasanjo over dealings with Afenifere 

Says cancellation of free education would take Ondo to dark age 

The leader of the apex Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, Reuben Fasoranti, has condemned the relationship of former President Olusegun Obasanjo with the group. 

Fasoranti, who spoke yesterday in a radio programme in Akure, said Obasanjo took advantage of the group in 2003 presidential election and “left us in the lurch.”

He lamented that the former president persuaded the six Yoruba states controlled by the Alliance for Democracy (AD), which was then a strong affiliate of Afenifere to support his second term bid, apart from the then Lagos State Governor, Bola Tinubu, who objected to the plan. 

According to him: “He tricked us into losing the election at that time and that is the grouse we have against him. At that time, he advised to boycott the election, which we hesitatingly agreed to do. At the end of the day, he landed us on the rock. 

“He dissociated himself from what we are doing, so there is no love lost between Afenifere and Obasanjo.” The Afenifere chieftain expressed doubt on a possible reconciliation between the members of the group and the elder statesman.

“He has his own ways of doing things, he doesn’t compromise even among his own people, he is not 100 per cent accepted because of his utterances in recent times. So, people are watching, I don’t think he has a following. 

“You know his own stance, he is very uncompromising, even up till now, and it is very difficult making an approach or coming into an agreement with him,” he said.

Fasoranti, who also expressed dismay at the state of the nation, noted that the All Progressives Congress (APC) government led by President Muhammadu Buhari is not delivering on his election promises to the people. 

He condemned the anti-corruption crusade, saying it was sectional and discriminatory, while there are some sacred cows whose excesses are shielded from the law. 

He said group adopted former President Goodluck Jonathan in the 2015 general elections based on his promise to convoke a Sovereign National Conference to discuss Nigerian government. 

“Some of the alleged corrupt people are his men and nothing drastic had been done about them. It is not the best that these people are being shielded,” he said.

On the planned payment of school fees in Ondo, he insisted: “the ideal thing is to make education affordable to everybody. In order words, make it free. What is government doing? That is the essence of governance, education should be affordable to everybody.”