Pioneer Military Governor of Osun State, Major General Leo Segun Ajiborisha, said he feels honoured to be part of the struggle for the rebirth and retrieval of Lagos State from the 25-year-old occupation by non-indigenes from other South West states.
Ajiborisha, who was also the former Principal Staff Officer (PSO) to the Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, during the military regime, said this when he hosted members of the steering committee of the De Renaissance Patriots Foundation, the blistering socio-cultural organisation established to lead a better state for the indigenes and to achieve state political power reclamation.
Speaking at the parley held virtually at the weekend and attended by the Alternate Chairman of the Board of Trustees (BOT) of De Renaissance Patriots Foundation, Major-General Tajudeen Olanrewaju; President and eye of the project, Prince Adelani Adeniji-Adele; Secretary General, Mr Yomi Tokosi, among others, Ajiborisha decried the current political development, stating that indigenes of Lagos State possessed both human and capital resources to run their state more perfectly than the current idea of the ruling party going outside the state to recruit people of other states of origin to come and run the affairs of the state.
According to him, such disposition is an abuse of process, privilege, and hospitality of Lagos people, like repaying good with evil, noting that the basis for not picking indigenes of the state for key political offices was demeaning, insulting, and not based on merit.
“It is like sticking fingers directly into the eyes of the indigenes, a thing that posterity will not forgive those doing this slap in the face of the indigenes and also those indigenes who fail to rise up to the occasion with a view to correcting the anomalies,” he said.
“Anywhere in the country, other states would not allow their guests to do to them what is happening to the indigenes of Lagos State.
“Those leaders behind this know what they are doing. That an indigene of Lagos State has a name, a historical background, and a pedigree and would not allow himself to be misused or rubbished,” he added.
The former military governor described the current situation as unfair and likened it to the heritage of Lagos State indigenes being sold, urging fellow indigenous Lagosians not to allow a continuation of their heritage to be further sold or stolen.
Ajiborisha, however, hailed the indigenes’ reaction to the abuses found in Army recruitment, which he said was now paying off, adding that it was on record that the military was adhering to the issues raised by the indigenes at that time as “no stones should remain unturned while fighting for our rights.”
The former military governor appreciated the leaders of the De Renaissance Patriots Foundation for thinking him fit to be contacted and given responsibility, assuring that he would do all that was required of him to be done towards accomplishing the vision and mission of the group, even as encouraging undiluted support for the group, which he pointed out was apolitical and fighting for posterity and meritocracy.
“I feel honoured to be part of the effort to reclaim our Lagos State after several years of being deprived, marginalised, and persecuted as our patrimony is usurped while crumbs are shared with us, the owners, by the usurping non-indigenes,” he said.
The Foundation’s alternate BOT chairman and former Minister of Communications, Major General Olanrewaju, told the meeting that General Ajiborisha, against the claims of the usurpers that Lagosians were not educated to govern their own state, was in the signal corps as an officer of the Nigerian Army and an information and communication expert till date.
Olanrewaju thanked the former Osun State military governor for sharing with the group, of which he is an honoured trustee, his brilliant experiences while announcing that the effort to reclaim Lagos had gone beyond ordinary to real and serious business.
The former minister extolled the virtues of his military sojourner, who had served the nation meritoriously well and has a reputation for being forthright and brutally honest, thanking him for accepting the humble post of being a trustee of the group.
“We have gone far on our plans, and we are not begging anybody to make Lagos indigenes their political parties’ candidates in 2027. No. But, because we are apolitical, we will tell them from outside to nominate only Lagos State indigenes as their candidates. If there is any party that is not going to do this, we are going to put our feet on the ground to insist on them doing it,” Olanrewaju said.
Also speaking, the president of the group, Prince Adeniji-Adele, reiterated that he had no regrets for his comments that indigenes were being given the short end of the stick, stating that all members of the group were committed to their objectives, just as he urged Gen. Ajiborisha to avail the leaders with his wealth of experience.
“It is high time our people demanded their rights from their oppressors, their traditional rulers, and sundry interlocutors in the affairs of the state. Lagos State has its indigenous people, and they should be respected,” he said.
(Nigerian Tribune)