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By Oluseye Ojo
The Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) has tackled a chieftain of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Buba Galadima, over allegations against President Bola Tinubu, and a former president of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.
Galadima had some days ago on a live television programme said some northern groups recruited late President Muhammadu Buhari into Nigerian politics because OPC, between 1999 and 2000, invaded Ilorin in Kwara State with the sole aim of uprooting Fulani structures.
The northern groups, according to him, felt that was too much. He alleged further that Obasanjo and the then Lagos State Governor, Bola Tinubu, did nothing to stop the OPC.
The OPC took a swipe against Galadima at a press conference at Orita-Aperin, Ibadan, Oyo State yesterday.
The group, however, described the allegations against Tinubu and Obasanjo as false accusations.
“Alhaji Buba Galadima was a friend of Dr. Frederick Fasehun, likewise to the incumbent President of OPC, Prince Osibote. It did not occur to us that we are dealing with a friend in disguise.
“In Kwara State, 70 percent of the indigenes are of Yoruba descent. They do not need to mobilise people outside their state to fight for their cause, especially in Ilorin, where Emir is ruling Yoruba descendants,” Adesina stated.
He recalled an incident that occurred in October 2000 in Oyo State, during the reign of Alhaji Lam Adesina as governor of the state.
“The Fulani herdsmen invaded farms in Saki, spanning 100-kilometre radius, and destroyed the farms with their cattle, killing the farmers.
“Gen Muhammadu Buhari, in company of Gen Buba Marwa, former Military Governor of Lagos State, Alhaji Aliko Muhammed, Alhaji Hassan and a host of northern elite came to meet Governor Adesina.
“They emitted fire based on the information of ‘hear-say.’ They came with people of Northern extraction, numbering about 1,000 men and women, young and the old.
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“This created some tension in and around government secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan. Gen Buhari now relayed his message, accusing the people of Saki in Oke-Ogun that they killed more than 68 Fulani herdsmen, and also accused the state government of perversion of justice.
“Governor Adesina maintained his coolness and asked the constituted authorities on security, namely Commissioner of Police, State Director of SSS, and the Executive Chairman of the local government involved, to speak.
“These stakeholders read their reports, which indicted Fulani herdsmen as the real killers of farmers in Saki. The reports are there for fact-checking.”
The OPC asked: “Please, Alhaji Buba Galadima, what is the business of former President Obasanjo and President Tinubu in this matter?
“At that time, there were two uprisings that happened in Mile 12 and Idi-Araba in Lagos State. The one of Mile 12 Market was between Yoruba and Hausa/Fulani, and that of Idi-Araba, as well.”
The OPC stated that the then Governor Tinubu in Lagos displayed the dignity of being a nationalist by ensuring an end to the crises.
“If today, Alhaji Galadima and his cohorts want to bring in the name of President Tinubu into this matter, your action will not see the light of the day because nothing concerns Tinubu with the Ilorin matter.
“Also, it is a general belief that Obasanjo is an ardent nationalist to the core. It was General Obasanjo, who ordered the shoot-on-sight directives for OPC members, when he became President in 1999. This was seen as a measure to curb the group’s activities, which were perceived as a threat to national security.
“Alhaji Galadima, where is Obasanjo’s role in protecting the OPC? The records are there for fact-checking. Is Alhaji Galadima a friend of Yoruba or what do we call him?
“Former President Buhari is late. Alhaji Adesina has gone to rest. The then Kwara State governor is no longer alive. It is now that Galadima is trying to wreak havoc.
“In our view, we perceived Galadima as a statesman. We expected a progressive statement from him, not one that will divide our noble country,” the OPC stated.
