By Adams Akorede
A factional president of the Yoruba Council of Elders, otherwise known as Igbimo Agba Yoruba, Col. Ade Agbede (retd) on Tuesday voluntarily quit the office.
Agbede made the announcement at the meeting of the Senior Elders’ Forum of YCE held at the Bodija, Ibadan residence of the first female Professor of Library Science in Africa, Adetoun Ogunseye.
At the meeting which was presided over by the hostess, Prof. Ogunseye, the future of the group was discussed.
They reportedly vowed not to have anything doing with the new leadership midwifed by the group’s Secretary General, Dr. Kunle Olajide.
On July 18, this year, anotherĀ president emerged for the crisis-ridden YCE.
He is a retired justice, Justice Ademola Bakre, an Officer of the Order of Niger, OON.
Bakre was unanimously voted to replace the interim executive put in place last year by the body.
Agbede who just quit the group, had been enmeshed in crisis with Dr. Olajide.
Olajide was last month suspended indefinitely by Agbede.
Olajide, who was placed on an indefinite suspension by the Senior Elders Forum of Agbede’ faction, had since headed to court to secure an injunction to stop another meeting scheduled by the Senior Elders’ Forum.
FollowingĀ the ugly development,Ā the Senior Elders’ Forum at its meeting, said they would not join issues with Olajide by going to court.
The elders argued, “we do not elect going to court because we refuse to drag or expose the name and integrity of Yoruba into disrepute”.
Recalling that the role of elders is well articulated in the pamphlet issued by late Papa Emmanuel Alayande’s administration at the inception of the YCE,Ā they said,Ā “the constitution claimed by Dr.Ā Kunle Olajide,Ā Prof.Ā Oluwasanmi and Justice Bakre is unknown to us.
“Even though,Ā we asked Dr.Ā Kunle Olajide to surrender the document with him to the President, he refused. In that regard, we cannot comment on something we have not seen.
“The said constitution was hoarded and we have no access to it”, the forum added.
The Senior Elders also accused Olajide of consistently treating YCE as his personal property,Ā citing as an example, his putting the National HeadquartersĀ of the YCE under lock and key with the gates chained so that they would have no access to it.
Saying that Yoruba has heritage, culture and customs,Ā the forum noted that “elders are the supreme level in Yoruba culture to whom all knotty matters are referred for solution, constitution may not cover all areas where convention can resolve, hence, Senior Elders’ Forum.
“The group of Dr. Olajide, Prof. Oluwasanmi and Justice Bakre has declared it does not recognize us and we cannot force ourselves on them. Hence, we hereby dissociate ourselves from the YCE of Dr.Ā Kunle Olajide,Ā Prof.Ā Oluwasanmi and Justice Bakre and remain on our own”, the Forum stated further.
