The former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Bode George, has called on Yoruba sons and daughters to unite and shun selfish interests in order to remain a formidable and relevant part of Nigeria.
George said this in Osogbo on Tuesday at the Grand Zonal Congress of the South-West Youth and Women Leaders.
He stated that Yoruba leaders could no longer choose to go in different directions due to distrust and selfishness and still expect the race to tower above others.
Stressing that Yoruba people could not afford to refuse to interact with other geopolitical zones of the nation, the former PDP chairman urged the people to build bridges of friendship across other divides to achieve the best for the people as the nation was preparing for the 2019 general elections.
The founding fathers of the Yoruba race, he said, were aware that their personal ambitions and gains should not be allowed to eclipse the collective destiny of the race, urging the present crops of leaders and followers to emulate them in the regard.
George said, “The Yoruba founding pioneers were indeed representative of men and women who came from the furthest reaches of Ekiti, the fertile expanses of Ondoland, the streams and waters of Osun, the forests and thickets of Oyo and the mountainous ranges of the Atlantic shores.
“Today, we occupy an inevitable position in the Nigerian firmament because we are now too much self-absorbed. We are too much hindered by parochial pursuits to the detriment of the greater Yoruba vision. We have dismantled the collective oneness which once gave us the cutting edge advantage in the past.
“We must return to the sacred dignities of old where personal ambitions were restrained by humility. We must return to the instinctive patriotic zeal that insists on sacrifice and selfless service. We must return to the good old days when hard work and perseverance were treasured over the lazy recourse to the easy ways.
“We can no longer afford to be going in different directions. That will not get us anywhere. It will always result in confusion and chaos. It will always result in aimlessness and forfeiture. As we push and pull in different ways, we become weaker and invariably enfeebled without any relevance, without any cogent achievements.”
