The passing on of the National Publicity Secretary of pqn-Yoruba socio-cultural group, Adenifere, Yinka Odumakin, has been described as a terrible blow to the Yoruba self-determination movement.
A Yoruba self-determination group, the Coalition of Oodua Self-determination Groups, COSEG, made this declaration in a statement signed by its Convener, Comrade Razaq Olokoba, who insisted that Odumakin’s passage is a reminder that nothing is more important than adhering to principles at all times, even in the most unfavourable circumstances.
Olokoba maintained that Odumakin represented a rare breed of activists with background in the Marxist students’ movement, who was able to creatively apply his ideology to the conditions of his people.
COSEG added that Odumakin’s exploits in the June 12 struggle days and his subsequent unapologetic and unflinching commitment to the cause of the Yoruba and the rest of the oppressed peoples and nationalities in Nigeria attest to this.
Olokoba said, “He was a dogged fighter, a destroyer and scourge of all backward and anti-democratic ideas and builder of commensurately progressive ideas and platforms for the advancement of the people’s condition of existence. He was fearless and puts the overall interest of the people over and above unprincipled political interest. His prowess in this regard was accentuated by his ability in exactitude, articulation and timeliness in responding to issues.
“His specific contributions to the Yoruba Agenda, to the forging of a common front at the 2014 Confab, building bridges with the peoples of the South-South, the South-East and the Middle Belt in almost two decades cannot be easily forgotten. Equally noteworthy is that he was not among people to be called All Governments in Power, neither was he noted for jumping ship for mundane reasons. He believed the ship of principle could weather any storm, no matter how imperilled.”
Conclusively, Comrade Olokoba, averred that “the greatest way to immortalize this illustrious Yoruba self-determination leader is to redouble the effort to free the Yoruba from the annihilatory trappings of the Nigerian neocolony -a struggle for which our brother and comrade sacrificed his all.”
