15th February, 2023
Less than two weeks to the much awaited presidential election, the Forum of Lagos State Baales, the umbrella body of all indigenous Baales in Lagos State, has unanimously endorsed the candidate of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu for the presidency.
The forum made the endorsement at its first Executive meeting held at Eti-Osa, Lagos State. The first Executive meeting was held to further reinforce the need for a credible election and also reinstate the roles and responsibilities of Traditional Leaders in ensuring a stable and peaceful society.
Baales across all the local government in the state attended the Executive and endorsement meeting.
According to the chairman of the forum, Chief Joseph Keshinro, the forum was formed to further remind the baales of the sensitive role and duties attached to their positions in their respective communities and kingdoms.
He stated that the general aspiration of making life in Lagos more conducive to the populace and visitors and in ensuring that the populace were properly guided in their choice of political leaders they elect to rule them further made the formation of the forum more unavoidable.
Keshinro stated that current trend of event and the bold activities of mischief makers and enemies of the country had further challenged the Baales not to keep quiet while some elements in the country seemed to have made it a duty to destroy Nigeria at all cost
While calling on all the Baales in the State to ensure that Tinubu and Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu emerged victorious in the coming elections as President and Governor of Lagos State respectively, Keshinro alerted all Baales in the state of the current hardship in the country as a result of the work of some dangerous elements on Naira redesigning and the lingering fuel crisis, saying that the enemies of Yoruba and in general the enemies of good and progressive governance in Nigeria were at work again.
“It is strange the type of criticisms trailing the aspiration and personality of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. People, whose track records cannot be seen, people who have no positive result in their states, people whose performance in their respective states cannot be seen but further created crisis and more problems for democratic structure, are today comparing themselves to Bola Tinubu whose creativity, boldness and experience cannot be compared to any of the candidates now,” he said.
Keshinro called on all the Baales in Lagos State to ensure everything possible was done for the victory of both Tinubu and Sanwo-Olu at the polls.
He urged traditional rulers to ensure peace and orderliness in their respective localities and kingdoms, adding that those who imposed hardship on Nigeria through current naira redesign and fuel shortage had not changed and would not change.
“What they wanted is for Nigerians to revolt and resort to violence so as to make their evil plan work, which includes cancelation of the election just because a competent, capable and experienced Yoruba man is contesting,” he said.