Five Yoruba speaking Islamic leaders in Nigeria have boycotted a conference on Oduduwa Republic organised by the Centre For Global Peace Initiative which involved Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Adams.
The religious leaders faulted their inclusion in what they described as secession talks being championed by some agitators in the South-West states .
Both the Center For global Peace Initiative and Centre for Policy intervention in Africa had scheduled the zoom conference for Saturday , October 3, tagged, the great October conference with the theme, “Yoruba Muslims Vs Oduduwa Republic: Clash of perspectives.”
The Islamic invited as panelists are; Director of Muslim Rights Concern, Prof. Ishaq Akintola ; Chief Missionary, Ansar ud Deen Society; Sheikh AbdrRahman Ahmad ; Imam, University of Abuja, Prof. Taofiq AbdulAzeez ; Dean, Faculty of Arts, University of Ibadan, Prof. AbdulHafeez Oladosu and Mufti, Conference of Muslim Organisations; Sheikh Dhikrullah Shafi.
The organisers had invited the Adams as a keynote speaker while Prof. Yunusa Salami of the Department of Philosophy, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, was chosen as the lead presenter.
The religious leaders in a joint release, titled, “Re: Yoruba Muslims vs Oduduwa Republic: Clash of Perspectives: A Disclaimer,” dissociated from the conference which was later shifted.
They complained that the organizers failed to seek their consent before using their names for the programme.
Meanwhile, Adams, has said the agitator of Oodua Republic, Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho, did not invite him to lead the October 1 rally to sensitise the people on the need to carve out Oodua Republic out of Nigeria.
Igboho had in September said in a video posted on Youtube that he and other people would stage a rally on the proposed Oodua Republic on October 1 and that the Aare Ona Kakanfo would lead the struggle.
In another video watched by our correspondent after October 1, Igboho lamented that he was betrayed by some Yoruba leaders. But when the BBC asked Adams whether he collected money to back off from the struggle, Adams denied.
Adams said at his level, he should not be expected to join such struggle without proper invitation or prior discussions before the day, saying that he was aware of Igboho’s comment.
He said, “It was uncharitable for Igboho to accuse me of betrayal because he was never part of the struggle in any way.’’
