TheCable

The Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) says it will continue to uphold the legacy of its founder, Fredrick Faseun, by not allowing politicians to turn Nigeria into an animal kingdom.

Prince Osibote, OPC worldwide president, made this known in a statement on Sunday, to commemorate the one-year anniversary of Faseun’s death.

Fasehun, a medical doctor and activist, died in December 2018 at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital in Ikeja.

“As we celebrate your life, Dr Fasehun, we as your disciples, promise to guide against the present crop of political leaders at all levels turning Nigeria into another dungeon, returning to the inglorious era of fear, tear and sorrow,” he said.

“We are prepared to make the necessary sacrifice to guarantee that Nigeria does not become a land of vampires, hyenas and locusts. We will not condone, tolerate or allow fifth columnists to reduce Nigeria to yet another animal kingdom, where might is right.

“We are ready, prepared and poised to collaborate with other well-meaning individuals and organisations to ensure that Nigerians have food on their table and a secured future.

“We promise never to compromise on the battle you started, consolidated and sustained until your dying days as a distinguished and worthy ambassador of mankind.”

Speaking further, Osibote said the group will not be cowed into deserting its aims and objectives.

“We insist that no individual or group, no matter how highly placed, can cow us from upholding the cardinal aims and objectives of the OPC to take the battle to the doorstep of whoever tries to undermine the Yoruba race and deprive us of their rights and privileges. Whoever tries to test our will won’t be spared,” he said.

The president said Fasehun left a legacy of visionary leadership as he “made his mark as an exceptional individual who believed in sharing with the citizens their dreams, desires, pains and challenges”.

He said it was because of that vision that the OPC founder “planted the seed called OPC that defends and protects with a consummate zeal and passion, the fundamental rights of all citizens”.

Osibote said the OPC is willing to collaborate with other stakeholders in ensuring the progress of the country.

The OPC was founded in 1994 to protect the interests of the Yoruba tribe after claiming the ethnic group was politically marginalised.