Crack in OPC as New Era knocks Adams over planned anniversary celebration

By Stephen Gbadamosi

The plan by the Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Adams, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the Yoruba socio-cultural group, Oodua People’s Congress (OPC), has been described as a slap on the faces of founding fathers of the organisation.

National Publicity Secretary of OPC New Era, a splinter group of the organisation, Comrade Adesina Akinpelu, in a statement made available to journalists on Sunday, said Iba Adams was not in a position to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the group.

Chairman of OPC’s 30th Anniversary Planning Committee, Professor Kolawole Raheem, had, last Thursday, unveiled the programmes of activities lined up for the anniversary.

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According to Professor Raheem, the eight-day long activities would climax with a grand reception to be held in Lagos on Thursday, August 29.

But reacting to this, the OPC New Era spokesman described the planned anniversary as another attempt by Iba Adams to “obtain money from Yoruba people, both at home and in the diaspora.”

Comrade Akinpelu insisted that Iba Adams could “only celebrate the disunity he caused among OPC members, as there are four different factions of the Yoruba socio-cultural group today.”

He listed the factions to include the Fasheun faction, the New Era faction, the Iba Gani Adams faction and the Reformed OPC faction.

According to him, “Gani Adams can only celebrate anniversary of his own faction of OPC and not anniversary of the OPC co-founded by the late Dr. Fredrick Fasheun and few other respected Yoruba leaders in 1994.”

Comrade Akinpelu maintained that if truly Iba Adams had good intentions for planning to celebrate OPC’s 30th anniversary, he should reach out to leaders of other factions of the group.

He, therefore, urged Yoruba traditional rulers, politicians and other well-meaning sons and daughters of the race, both home and in the diaspora, to disregard any invitation or request for financial support concerning the proposed anniversary.

Going down memory lane, Akinpelu recalled that “Iba Adams was declared as leader of OPC on March 1, 1999, at No. 19 Olusoga Street, Mushin, Lagos in a rebellious manner against the leadership of the late Fasheun.”

He said, “we, the masses and youths in the OPC, laid down our lives to support Gani Adams, because we thought he was a youth like us. We know how many OPC members that died on that day.

“But instead of using the position to fight the cause of the Yoruba race, Gani Adams has continued to use the name of OPC to enrich himself and cause disunity among members of the group.

“Those professors and elders still following Gani Adams around know the truth, but they cannot say it to his face.

“The Ooni of Ife has long called for unity among all the OPC factions. Gani Adams has not allowed that to happen.

“He is now planning to celebrate the 30th anniversary of a group that is largely divided, contrary to the dreams of its founding fathers,” he said.

He noted that if Adams was interested in the progress of the Yoruba race and OPC, in particular, he would have worked towards ensuring unity among members of the group as instructed by Oba Ogunwusi.

“When the late Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Adeyemi, wanted to install Gani Adams as the Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Dr. Fasheun did not oppose it; he supported him.

“But when Fasheun was sick and eventually died and even till today, Gain Adams has not visited the family. We are talking of one of the founding fathers of the organisation,” he added.