File: Bode George
Yorubas must unite and stop all selfish interests to remain relevant in Nigeria, a former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party Bode George has said.
George noted this on Tuesday in Osogbo at the Grand Zonal Congress of the South-West Youth and Women Leaders.
“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,” he said.
“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 [a] 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.”