At the launch of the Emblem Appeal to flag off the 2023 Armed Forces Remembrance Day Celebrations at the State Internal Revenue Service Hall, Akure, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, Governor of Ondo State and Chairman of the Southwest Governors’ Forum was reported to have “warned those agitating for Oodua Nation to perish the thought.” He was also reported to have vowed, inter alia, “that states in the Southwest will not allow any agitation that will scuttle the sacrifices of the Nation’s heroes”. He then went on to hurl insults and abuses at those of us agitating for the creation of a sovereign Yoruba Nation State separate from Nigeria. Those who are familiar with Arakunrin Akeredolu say the use of uncouth language is his stock in trade especially when he is inebriated. He even went as far as inciting the Police, whose welfare their governments have always neglected, against peaceful agitators, labelling the activities of Yoruba freedom fighters as treasonable. It appears Akeredolu and his fellow Yoruba Governors are beginning to get paranoid seeing the popularity of the agitation for Yoruba/Oduduwa Nation among the Yoruba populace at home and abroad.
However, before Akeredolu and the Southwest Governors run amok against their own people in their desperation to serve the interests of their Fulani paymasters in Abuja, they need to be reminded of or educated about some incontrovertible facts in respect of the demand for self-determination in the modern world. First and foremost, the right to self-determination was enshrined in the United Nations Charter in June 1945. Other international instruments that affirm the right of a people to self-determination include the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights [ICCPR] of 16 December, 1966, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights [ICESCR] also of 16 December 1966, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples of September 13, 2007, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Banjul Charter) of 21 October 1986, among others. These laws, covenants and declarations affirm the fact that every indigenous nation, such as the Yoruba Nation, have “the inalienable right to self-determination” and “the right to determine their political status.” These laws also emphasise the responsibility of every state or country not only to recognize but to also protect these rights. They highlight the fact that a nationality seeking to assert its self-determination does not need to seek permission from anybody and may not be imposed upon by the country to which it currently belongs, may not have its citizens denied their civic rights , and may not have its territory occupied militarily without its express consent. It is pertinent to point out, at this juncture, that all the laws, covenants and declarations earlier referenced are part of the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria because Nigeria is a signatory to all of them. Therefore, Akeredolu and his fellow Yoruba Governors are well advised to go and familiarize themselves with these international legal instruments because they may find themselves being dragged before the International Criminal Court of Justice at The Hague if they happen to abuse or infringe upon the rights of the Yoruba people or in any way deny the Yoruba people their civic rights. They should be reminded of the fact that ignorance is no excuse in law.
It is extremely laughable that in Akeredolu’s verbiage under reference, he stated, on behalf of himself and his colleagues, that the “opportunity for presidency to come to the South, especially the Southwest, is around the corner.” One is inclined to ask Akeredolu if the presidency has not come to the Southwest not long ago. Of what benefit was it to the Yoruba people? Are the Yoruba Governors unaware of the fact that the 1999 Nigerian Constitution is heavily skewed against the South, and in favour of the North? What seems obvious from the pro-Nigeria pronouncements of the Yoruba Governors is the fact that they are motivated by base considerations such as lust for office as Senator, Minister as well as blind greed and excessive love of filthy lucre from the centralized national treasury in Abuja, all at the expense of the security and wellbeing of the Yoruba people who elected them into office. They do not care about the pitiable plight of the Yoruba people, the marginalization, humiliation, and brutalization the Yoruba people have been subjected to since 1960 and which have grown worse in the past seven to eight years. In this regard, one is compelled to bring to the fore the sad and disheartening plight of thousands, nay millions, of educated Yoruba young men and women who graduate annually from our tertiary institutions but for whom there are no jobs because our Governors have not given any serious thought to job creation for these youths. Consequently, these hapless Yoruba youths are forced to “japa” in droves in search of greener pasture in any part of the world where most of them end up being subjected to mindless exploitation. Some embark on the hazardous journey across the Sahara Desert where many of them perish in the process. Some of those who survive and arrive in Libya end up being enslaved and subjected to various forms of inhuman treatment. Many of those who then attempt to cross the Mediterranean Sea into Europe drown in the process due to the rickety nature of the boats put at their disposal. None of the Governors’ children can be found among these unfortunate youths. In recent years the whole of Yorubaland has been experiencing invasion from Fulani herdsmen and terrorists, who have driven farmers off their farms, and have rendered almost every highway in Yorubaland unsafe for travelers. Virtually all forests in Yorubaland have been taken over by Fulani terrorists. Yoruba Governors have not sent the police after these criminals. No, it is peaceful agitators for self-determination they see as capable of scuttling their elections, not criminals who have rendered every inch of Yorubaland unsafe for any form of legitimate business. It is this “shit hole” of a country that is dear to the hearts of Yoruba Governors, not the lives and livelihoods of their own people. O ma se o.
At this point, it is pertinent to remind our Southwest Governors of the fact that on at least two occasions, between 2015 and 2017, on the floor of the United Nations General Assembly, President Muhammadu Buhari, in making a case for self-determination of the Rohingya people of Myanmar stated emphatically that self-determination is an inalienable right of every nation in the world, and that it is immoral to deny any nation its right of self-determination. Were the ears of our pro-Nigeria Yoruba Governors blocked when their one-Nigeria “oga” was pontificating on Rohingya right of self-determination at the UN? How slavish can some people get just because they want to chop “nama”? Just as the Rohingya have suffered genocide, so have the Yoruba been suffering persecution, discrimination as well as genocide and destruction of farmlands and properties in recent times. The Yoruba experience dates back to October 1960, precisely 11 days after the celebration of Nigeria’s independence when Alhaji Ahmadu Bello, a Fulani prince and Premier of Northern Nigeria wrote these words: “This new nation called Nigeria shall be an extension of the estate of our forefather, Othman dan Fodio. We must use the people of the Middle Belt as our willing tools and the peoples of the South as a conquered territory, and never let any of them control their own future.” This is where the rain started beating the Yoruba and other indigenous peoples of Nigeria. It never stopped because as recently as 2014, a leading Fulani political elite reiterated the 1960 Ahmadu Bello statement in the following words: “In 1960, Allah, through the British, gave us Nigeria to rule and to do with as we please. We have been doing that and we intend to continue. If any people try to take it from us, we shall kill, maim and destroy and make Nigeria the bloodiest war zone in Africa. The Mujaheedin are ready and, by Allah, we shall win.” It is statements such as these and the ones made by Myetti Allah and other Fulani zealots that are treasonable, not lawful expressions of the desire for freedom by Yoruba Nation agitators. Therefore, Akeredolu and his musketeers’ anger and sabre rattling against Yoruba/Oduduwa nationalists is clearly misdirected. Since they appear to be smarting for a fight they should head to the forests in Yorubaland where Fulani terrorists have set up shop for some time now. Considering the fact that Yoruba Nation agitators are nor armed, we will not be able to accompany them to the forests. They can be sure that we shall forever hail them as patriots whether they return or not.
While horrendous atrocities such as killing, maiming, destruction of properties, and kidnapping for ransom are daily being perpetrated against the Yoruba and other indigenous peoples of Nigeria the Nigerian State has been pretending to be too helpless in stopping the carnage. And, it is this failed state that Akeredolu and his fellow Governors want the Yoruba people to resign themselves to as they continue to be slaughtered as sacrificial lambs to appease Fulani gods. No group of people with any modicum of self esteem will surrender to such barbarism. Wherever in the world that injustices have been visited on a people, they have always taken their destiny in their hand and felt free to exercise their right of self-determination. Therefore, it is no wonder that, in the past three and a half decades, not less than 25 new countries have emerged from previously existing countries as a result of some internal crisis.
For instance, in the early 1990s, a world power, the Union of Soviet Socialists Republic, otherwise known as Soviet Union, broke up and dissolved in 15 independent states due to internal contradictions. In 1992, the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) broke into six sovereign countries. Serbia, a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe is one of them. It has a population of 6,690,887 (2022), and is famous for its capital, Belgrade. East Timor won independence from Indonesia on 20 May 2002, after a UN-sponsored referendum. Currently, Scotland is agitating for separation from the United Kingdom. Closer to home in Africa, Eritrea won independence from Ethiopia in 1993 after a 30-year war. The Republic of Somaliland with a population of 3.5 million (2014) in the Horn of Africa declared itself independent of Somalia in 1999. The Republic of South Sudan with a population of 12,778,250 in 2019 became fully independent of Sudan on July 9, 2011. What emerges from the foregoing is that new countries are constantly being created; it is a universal phenomenon that nobody, no matter how powerful, can stop.
Therefore, it is foolhardy or outright foolish for any Governor, whether “arakunrin” or “arabinrin” to engage in the delusion of stopping or standing in the way of those of us agitating for the creation of a sovereign Yoruba Nation , a nation of about 60 million people with the highest literacy rate in Black Africa. Prevalent internal dynamics presage the imminent and inevitable break up of Nigeria and the birth of new countries therefrom. It is irreversible. We who are agitating for a sovereign Yoruba Nation separate from Nigeria know what it takes to birth our new country. We have embarked on it, and there is no looking back. However, the point must be made that, as repeatedly stated by Professor Banji Akintoye, the face and father of the Yoruba nation agitation, we shall go about it peacefully and in a law-abiding manner. In the words of Prophet Zechariah: “Not by might, nor by power, but by (God’s) Spirit”. The work of bringing into being the sovereign Yoruba nation state will be accomplished by God’s Spirit that is working through all truthful and sincere Yoruba nation agitators be they Christian, Moslem or Traditionalist. Nothing, not even a mighty mountain, will stand in Yoruba nation’s way; it will become a level plain before us.
May God bless Yoruba Nation.
Adewale Adeniran, Ph.D (Chevalier de l’Ordre du Merite Social) is the Apex Leader and Chairman, Ilana Omo Oduduwa Worldwide, the apex body of Yoruba Self-Determination Struggle.
E-mail: [email protected]
