Gani Adams Challenges Fasheun to Name His Sponsors Or Cover His FaceIn Shame

Gani Adams, the leader of a faction of the Odua People's Congress
(OPC), has described as a wolf in sheep's skin the septuagenarian
leader of the other faction, Mr. Fredrick Fasheun over the latter's
controversial solidarity with recently acquitted Major Hamza
Al-Mustapha.
The criticism is contained in a statement released by the organization
and signed by the General Secretary, Mr. Tanimowo Babajide, and the
Publicity Secretary, Akeem Ologunro
Referring to Fasheun's threat to nameAdam's sponsors, he challenged
Fasehun to come out and name them or cover his face in shame and keep
quiet.
"Unlike Fasheun, whose antecedents have proved beyond any doubt that
he has always had a price tag that can be paid for anytime by the
highest bidder, Otunba Gani Adams has remained consistent with the
dream behind the formation of the OPC, which was to fight for the
rights of theYoruba race and the right for self-determination," the
statement said.
It noted that "the same people who are paying [Fasheun's] bills" tried
several times to enlist the support of Otunba Adams to support their
cry for the release of their man, Al-Mustapha,but he rebuffed them on
each occasion, remaining steadfast to upholding the Yoruba's age-long
logic of 'Oruko rere san j'owo lo'.
Mr. Adams described Mr. Fasheun as a flip-flopper who has over time
reneged on collective objectives and values to pursue personal
political interests in the company of oppressors of the masses. In
doing so,Adams said that Fasehun's greed has manifested from the time
of General Sanni Abacha, who callously attempted to elongate his stay
in power.
The fraudulent scheme, according to Gani, attracted Fasehun who had
fallen in with the military dictator, even though he also publicly
claimed a stance again the gruesome murder of Mrs. Kudirat Abiola.
The statement further said that the OPC, which was said to have formed
to collectively demand justice and restore the mandate of the June 12,
1993 presidential election to the winner, late Chief MKO Abiola, broke
into factions from the greed of Mr. Fasehun which most members of the
group felt was antithetical to the objective that created OPC.
The statement is reproduced below:
FASEHUN A WOLF IN SHEEP'S SKIN
With the comments credited to the Dr. Fredrick Fasheun's group in
Sunday Punch, casting aspersion on the person of Otunba Gani Adams, it
is now very clear to us that Fasehun has chosen to thread the path of
perfidy and self-destruct, with all the dire consequences.
Ordinarily, we would have dismissed the comments as coming from a
drowning man seeking to hold onto anything for survival, having
realized his grievous and damning miscalculation, but we have realized
that there is need for us to answer him and put the records straight.
While trying to justify his support for Major Al-Mustapha, Fasehun, in
the story, entitled 'Gani Adams sponsoredto criticize me, claimed
that Otunba Adams was sponsored to criticize him, and that the
sponsors were afraid of his (Fasehun's) acceptance in the North.
Laughable as this accusation may seem, we would, however, want him and
his cohorts to stick to the subject matter rather than beat around
it. Let him be reminded that Otunba Adams' criticism was based on
Fasehun's unholy romance with Al-Mustapha, who was fingered in the
killing of late
Kudirat Abiola, a Yoruba woman and wife of late MKO Abiola, the martyr
of our democracy.
He also claimed that his visit to Kano had given his political party a
politicalmileage in the North, and that OtunbaAdams is losing members
in drove.
With his threat to name the alleged sponsors of Otunba Adams, Fasehun
would do well to come out and name the sponsors now or better still
cover his face in shame and keep quiet. Unlike Fasehun, whose
antecedents have proved beyond any doubt that he has always had a
price tag that can be paid for anytime by the highest bidder, Otunba
Gani Adams has remained consistent with the dream behind the formation
of the OPC, which was to fight for the rights of theYoruba race and
the right for self-determination.
At this juncture, let us inform Fasehun that the same people who are
paying his bills tried several times to enlist the support of Otunba
Adams to support their cry for the release of their man, Al-Mustapha,
but he rebuffed them on each occasion, remaining steadfast to
upholding the Yoruba's age-long logic of 'Oruko reresan j'owo lo'. But
it is now very clear that Fasehun knows little or nothing about this
age-long practice.
Recent happenings have also confirmed our suspicions over the role
played by Fasehun in the crisis that engulfed the OPC in the past.
While professing to fight for the rights of the Yoruba race, Fasehun
hadalways been a mole eating from both sides of the mouth. For the
benefits ofthose who do not know the genesis of the crisis, it started
after a large portion of our members realized that Fasehun was trying
to use the group as a platform to join the Abacha's five political
arrangements in 1998.In those dark days of the battle for
therestoration of the June 12 mandate, most of us were always
surprised thatAbacha and his men always seemed to know much about our
strategies and plans. But we are now convinced that the source of
those leaks was no other person but Fasehun. What this means is that
Fasehun's unholy alliance with Al-Musapha predates his trial for the
murder of Kudirat. No wonder then, that in 2008, after visiting the
Abachas, Fasehun came out to say the late dictator was the best
president for Nigeria.
In trying to deceive the Yoruba race, Fasehun decided to choose the
UPN as the name for his political party. He also claimed that his
visit to Kano has given his party a political mileage. But nothing can
be further from the truth than this claim. Fasehun's party lacks any
base in any part of the country. His case is like a builder who starts
construction from the roof rather than the foundation. All popular
political parties have their strong base and followers in the base of
the founder. This perhaps informedthe decision of political parties
like APGA, AD (later ACN) and the CPC to first build a base in their
strongholds before seeking further acceptance outside of their bases.
But where can we say is the strong base of Fasehun'sUPN? Fasehun is
like the ostrich that covers its head in sand, and forgettingthat its
anus is open to everybody.
There is no gain repeating the fact that Fasehun is misrepresenting
the OPC and the Yoruba race in general. His claim that we are losing
members in dove is indeed laughable. Let us state here that the truth
of the matteris that true members of the OPC who are still loyal to
the original cause of the group have left the Fasehun group to join
our group, and many more have shown interest in joining us having
realized Fasehun's deceit and warped
sense of leadership.
I hereby throw an open challenge to Fasehun to join me on a walk on
the street of any town in Yorubaland for a popularity test if he is
truly sure of his acceptance.
Barrister Tanimowo
Babajide,
comrade. Akeem Ologunro,
General Secretary, OPC Publicity secretary