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A factional leader of the pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, Oba Oladipo Olaitan, Monday, said leadership succession in the organisation is not a contest to be won through campaigns or personal ambition.
He said established traditions and institutional procedures must determine who succeeds its late leader, Pa Reuben Fasoranti.
Olaitan, a former political adviser to the late Lagos state governor, Chief Lateef Jakande, made the declaration during a condolence visit to the family of Fasoranti in Akure, the Ondo state capital.
His remarks come amid concerns over leadership succession and internal divisions within the influential Yoruba socio-political organisation following the death of the revered elder statesman, who died at the age of 100.
Emphasising what he described as ‘Afenifere’s longstanding tradition of leadership succession’, Olaitan said the emergence of a new leader should follow an established process rather than be driven by personal ambition, lobbying or campaigns for positions.
“You don’t vie for it. You don’t campaign for it. It’s an apostolic selection. If you are the deputy, naturally, if the leader goes, you go,” he said.
The Afenifere chieftain, who claimed nearly 47 years of membership of the organisation, expressed confidence that its institutional heritage, historical experience and established traditions would enable it to overcome any leadership challenges confronting it.
He cautioned against attempts to disrupt the organisation’s established order, maintaining that disagreements, where they arise, should be resolved through recognised procedures rather than actions capable of deepening divisions.
“If anybody wants to topple the apple cart, I think the thoroughness that Afenifere is known for will get us through it,” he said.
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