Human rights Lawyer and Activist, Mr Femi Falana (SAN) has revealed how the deceased spokesperson of the pan- Yoruba group, Afenifere Mr. Yinka Odumakin escaped expulsion during his undergraduate days at the University of Ife now Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife.
Odumakin had reportedly staged a peaceful protest against the oppressive rule of the then Military President, General Ibrahim Babangida after which he was expelled by the University before his expulsion was quashed by Oyo State High Court which ordered the reinstatement of Yinka and his colleagues.
Read Falana: “During the 1988 Convocation Ceremony of the University of Ile – Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife, the late Vice Admiral Patrick Koshoni who had stood proxy for the Visitor and Military President, General Babangida. The students staged a peaceful protest against the recolonization of the country by imperialism.
“For leading the protest, Yinka and seven of his colleagues were expelled from the University. My principal, the Late Comrade, also Aka-Bashorun dispatched me to Ife to challenge the expulsion of the student activists at the Oyo State High Court. The trial judge quashed the expulsion and ordered the reinstatement of Yinka and his colleagues”, Falana stated.
Falana, stated this while pouring encomium on the late spokesman who reportedly died after surviving COVID-19 complications on Friday at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, Lagos.
“Yinka Odumakin was an undergraduate of the Obafemi Awolowo University (1986-1989). He was a member of the Alliance of Progressive Students (ALPS). Based on his defence of Students’ rights, Yinka was elected as the Public Relations Officer of the Students Union between 1987- 1988.
“When the Babangida military junta annulled the results of the June 12th election won by the Late Bashorun M.K.O. Abiola, Yinka was among the young men and women who mobilized the Nigerian people to terminate military rule in Nigeria. A few years later, I was surprised when Yinka informed me that he had decided to pursue the struggle for the emancipation of the Nigerian people along ethnic lines. Thereafter, he pitched his tent with Afenifere, a Yoruba socio-cultural group.
“Yinka being the youngest member of the group, he was made the spokesman. In that capacity, he effectively publicized the activities of the body and defended its position on national issues”.
Packaged by Emmanuel Adeniran
