In an interview with Saturday Sun in Lagos, a notable Yoruba leader and founder, Oodua Peoples Congress, OPC, Fasehun, described alleged marginalization of the Yoruba in Buhari’s government as real, saying that Yoruba people "have learnt a bitter lesson from the way they are being treated by the present leadership under President Muhammadu Buhari"
His words, "What I meant is that our people must have learnt a bitter lesson from the way they are being treated by the present leadership under President Muhammadu Buhari.
"You know as the saying goes, words of elders are words of wisdom. Not only that God used some elders including myself in the run-up to the 2015 general elections, that we should not only raise alarm, but also warn Yoruba about going into any romance or alliance with General Buhari.
"When we were raising that alarm, it is not that we have personal hatred or harboured any grudge against Buhari, but our opposition against Buhari was hinged on the fact that this man was in power before and we all knew how he marginalized other sections of the country, promoting only the northern interests.
"People complained that time against his style, but Buhari refused to budge, under Buhari’s military leadership then, Nigeria was almost turned into Animal Farm where some animals were equal than others.
"As the saying goes, a leopard can’t change its spots, and that was why we warned Nigerians that time, especially the Yoruba, that helping Buhari to get political power would amount to nothing but political suicide. Voting for Buhari or helping Buhari to get political power is like riding on the back of a tiger, and if you are not careful, you end up in the belly of that tiger. This is exactly what is happening today, Buhari has not changed a bit. He has only changed his military garb for civilian attires, but the man still remains the same, stubborn and a biased leader.
Buhari is 100 per cent Pro-North
"Forget whatever his supporters and media handlers are saying, Buhari is pro-North 100 per cent, and he doesn’t care about the feelings of other sections of the country, especially the South. Buhari is not a national leader, it would be wrong for anybody or any genuine patriot to describe Buhari as a national leader.
"However, it is not only the Yoruba that Buhari has marginalised, he has marginalized the entire South. Buhari is Nigeria’s president, but from his actions, he doesn’t behave or act like a leader who sees the entire nation as his constituency.
Buhari favoured the North with political appointments more than the South
"You don’t need to look far before you can see the difference. Look at all the key appointments the president has been making since coming to power, the north is favoured more than the south. It is only inconsequential positions that are being handed Yoruba and other ethnic nationalities. Key appointments and influential positions are given to the north, and it is very unfortunate that some people would always found justification for the president’s action, but Nigerians can’t be fooled.
Asked what do the Yoruba want again under this administration hence the number 2 man in the administration is a Yoruba man he said:
"Yes it is true that a Yoruba man is the number 2 man, but that is where it all ends. The vice-president is just like deputy governors who have been described by some people as spare tyres. Either you are the vice-president or the deputy-governor, you have nothing to celebrate about, because it is the president and the governors that wield all the power. The deputies are at the mercy of their bosses. The constitution allows little or no specific roles to the vice-president and the deputy governors. They are just glorified public office holders. They are toothless bulldogs. They depend or look up to the crumbs from the president or governors. The vice-president only carry out duties assigned him by the president.
