Pioneer military governor of Osun State, Major General Leo Segun Ajiborisha, has said that indigenes of Lagos State possess both human and capital resources to run their state better.
Speaking during a virtual meeting recently when he hosted members of the steering committee of De Renaissance Patriots Foundation, Ajiborisha, also the former Principal Staff Officer (PSO) to the Head of State during General Abdulsalami Abubakar (Rtd)’s military regime, condemned 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 Lagos State.
The meeting, held virtually recently, was attended by alternate chairman of the board of trustees (BOT) of De Renaissance Patriots Foundation, Major General Tajudeen Olanrewaju (Rtd), President and eye of the project, Prince Adelani Adeniji-Adele, Secretary-General, Mr. Yomi Tokosi, among other top members of the group serving on the committee.
He said, “I feel honored 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 opined that no matter the thoughts behind the current situation in Lagos State, it was unfair and likened it to the heritage of Lagos State indigenes being sold. Then he begged fellow indigenous Lagosians not to allow a continuation of their heritage being further sold or stolen. He encouraged undiluted support for De Renaissance Patriots Foundation, a group which he pointed out was apolitical and fighting for posterity and meritocracy.
He also noted that the indigenes’ reaction to the abuses found in army recruitment was now paying off as, according to the general, “it is on record that the military is adhering to the issues raised by the indigenes at that time,” adding that no stones should remain unturned while fighting for our rights.
In the meantime, Major General Tajudeen Olanrewaju had told the meeting that General Ajiborisha, against the claims of the usurpers that Lagosians are 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, the Foundation’s alternate BoT chairman and former minister of communications, thanked the former Osun State military governor for sharing with the group, of which he is an honored trustee, brilliant experiences while announcing that the effort to reclaim Lagos had gone beyond ordinary to real and serious business.
He extolled the virtues of his military sojourner, who had served the nation meritoriously well and has a reputation of being forthright and brutally frank. He thanked 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.
In his general comments, the president of the group, Prince Adelani Adeniji-Adele, reiterated that he had no regrets for his comments that indigenes were being given the short end of the stick. He further stated that all members of the group were committed to their objectives.
