BREAKAWAY FACTION OF AFENIFERE REJECTS APPOINTMENT OF FALAE AS NATIONAL LEADER, SAYS HE’S TOO OLD

Pan-Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere, has opposed the purported plan to establish Forest Guards by the Nigerian Government.

The group stated that establishing state police would benefit Nigerians more than creating forest guards.

In a statement signed by Secretary-General Sola Ebiseni, following its Monthly General Meeting held at the residence of its Leader, Oba Oladipo Olaitan, in Ilesha on Tuesday, the group expressed its support for the long-standing call for the establishment of state police.

This move aims to effectively address the increasing insecurity of lives and property in Nigeria.

“Afenifere expressed concerns about the frightening state of insecurity and called for the establishment of State Police in line with true federalism,” he said.

Afenifere argued that state police would be more effective for our situation than the proposed Forest Guards with federal oversight, especially in our federation, where land matters fall under the exclusive constitutional jurisdiction of states.

“We believe that Forest Guard with Federal command is anti-federalism,” he said.

While condemning acts of terrorism in the North-central part of the country, the group called for a return to modern agriculture with adequate security for farmers, adding that it would soon establish skill acquisition centres in member states to train youths free of charge.

The group also reaffirmed the appointment of Oba Oladipo Olaitan as its new leader.

His earlier appointment as Deputy Leader in 2021, which Pa Reuben Fasoranti approved after his retirement, has allowed for the leadership of Afenifere to rotate to the Oyo/Osun axis.

Ebiseni further stated that the general meeting confirmed Oba Oladipo Olaitan as the new leader of Afenifere.

“Following his retirement as the Leader of Afenifere in April 2021, our revered Leader, Chief Reuben Fasoranti handed over to Chief Ayo Adebanjo and appointed the then National Financial Secretary, Oba Oladipo Olaitan as the Deputy Leader, the position he held till the glorious demise of our iconic Leader, Chief Ayo Adebanjo on the 14th February 2025.

“The significance of this visionary appointment is that since inception in 1951 the leadership of Afenifere now moves out of what looked like rotation between the Ondo/Ekiti and Ogun/Lagos zones to the Oyo/Osun axis.

“At the March 2025 General Meeting held at the residence of our late Leader at Isanya-Ogbo, it was resolved that the Deputy Leader should serve as Leader in acting capacity and shall automatically assume office as the substantive Leader after the burial of our revered Chief Ayo Adebanjo.”

In a related development, a faction loyal to President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, led by the retired leader of Afenifere, has reportedly declared Chief Olu Falae, a former Finance Minister, as the Chairman.

The Afenifere Diaspora has kicked against the emergence of Falae. In a statement titled, “A Void Succession In A Leadership Vacuum”, Secretary of Afenifere in the US, David Adenekan, stated, “How would someone who was not part of the pyramid leadership structure that was intactly left behind by Chief Ayo Samuel Adebanjo of blessed memory just come from the blue to assume the leadership of Afenifere, at whose people’s instance?

“What, who, when, how and where was the assembly of delegates that declares him as the new leader of Afenifere?

“Where is the real structure, apart from political jobbers who are parading themselves as Afenifere?

“Suffice it to say, leadership is not declared in a vacuum. A void succession indeed! This is inapt and gibberish. This unrepentant Tinubu’s acolytes are bent to achieve the uncharitable agenda of their so-called pay master, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, PBAT.

“It is not going to work. Why? Afenifere is not about dialectic materialism. A man whose mindset of capitalism, the so-called structural adjustment program (SAP) as a minister of finance under the military junta, which was antithetical to the welfare ideology of Afenifere is not just fit to lead the group.

“Afenifere is a group that is grounded in a philosophical ideology, coupled with strong conviction called ‘welfarism’. This is another shenanigan that has already hit the rock before its arrival. An ‘unfit leadership cap.’”