At about 9:55am penultimate Saturday, a gaggle of misplaced agitators undertook a ghoulish expedition to the Oyo State Secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan, an idyllic haven housing both the Governor’s Office and the House of Assembly. Decked in military camouflage and armed with pump action semi-automatic rifles and other melange of assorted arms, the invaders allegedly drew the first blood by opening fire on the policemen on ground, after hoisting their flag on the premises of the legislative arena.
They were, however, eventually overpowered and dislodged by a combined force of police reinforcement, personnel of the Nigerian Army, a detachment of the Department of State Security(DSS), Civil Defence Corps, Operation Burst and Amotekun operatives. The bizarre invasion came barely 24 hours after Mrs Modupe Onitiri-Abiola emerged from the blues and, in a most infantile audacity, proclaimed an independent ‘Democratic Republic of Yoruba’!
One of the widows of the late business mogul and winner of the June12,1993 presidential election, Bashorun MKO Abiola, Onitiri, who spoke in Yoruba, had declared: “We are an indigenous people. We are a sovereign people. We are ethnic nationalists … that we should leave Nigeria. Today, April 12, 2024, we leave with the power of God. I, Modupe Onitiri-Abiola, proclaim the independence of the ‘Democratic Republic of Yoruba.’
“From today, Yorubaland begins its own government. It has become the newest nation. Yoruba has become a country that nobody is against. This is established. I, Modupe Onitiri-Abiola, am an original Yoruba. I’m MKO Abiola’s widow.”
The declaration is as derisory and impolitic as the invasion. Both are imponderable, because they could be portentous of an anarchical order, with an outcome that could be unpredictable and unwholesome. People did not have to ponder for too long to know that Onitiri’s proclamation was the direct precursor of the invasion. It is akin to the Yoruba proverb to the effect that the witch who threatened to deal with a child yesterday must be responsible for the child’s death today.
Respected historian, Prof. Banji Akintola, a leader of a Yoruba self-determination group, issued a statement on the day of Ibadan invasion, dissociating his group from the rash action. He made allusions that the invading group is being led by Onitiri. Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho, also dissociated himself from the invasion and urged the authorities to investigate the incident thoroughly with a view to punishing the culprits severely.
A viral video of Mrs Onitiri-Abiola claiming leadership of the invading group thereafter surfaced on the social media. The Abiola family too wasted no time in telling Nigerians that the woman was on her own, that she was not representing the family in her reckless proclamation.
Onitiri’s fantasies are shockingly puerile. You sat in the comfort of your home and so casually made such a potentially incendiary proclamation of a sovereign nation. Then, the following morning, you organized a ragtag ‘army’ to give effect to the declaration by confronting a section of a behemoth like Nigeria, a sophisticated country run by laws and whose military is reputed to be one of the strongest and largest in Africa!
However, she could not have been acting for the Yoruba people. She does not seem to know her people well and she probably did not consult widely enough. Otherwise, her impetuous actions are completely antithetical to the modus operandi of her people, their politics and everything they stand for. The mainstream Yoruba leaders at all levels are relatively cerebral, methodical and calculating in pursuing their politics and aspirations and the ingenious ‘stratagems’ towards achieving their goals.
Certainly, the Yoruba people detest injustices, inequalities and foolery, but they abhor violence in whatever form. So, as an unwritten rule, they employ the means of strategic politicking, intellectual discourse and robust engagements to advance their interests and incentivize others across the bridge to toe their line. You will never find them go beyond lawful and peaceful means in expressing themselves, even whenever they are in opposition.
Few Nigerians are happy at the current imbalances and lopsidedness in the federation, an awkward system that confers undue advantages on some sections of the country to the detriment of the others. The unitary arrangement foisted on the nation also gives many Nigerians the goose pimples. The growth-stunting system forced on the nation by the Major-Gen. Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi administration, now reinforced by the military-fashioned 1999 Constitution, has been a blight on our quest for political stability and economic emancipation four decades after.
The Yoruba people have been one of the most vociferous agitators against the unfair system but they have never considered violence in advancing their position. The mainstream Yoruba leaders, including current President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, have been silently but consistently and through lawful and peaceful means, been agitating for true ferderalism through the restructuring of the country. It is an arrangement that will devolve more powers to the federating units and allow them(federating units) some level of autonomy that will enable them develop at their own pace.
It is more of an intermesh of modern democracy and the kind of regional autonomy we had in the First Republic. We all saw the level of development the premiers of the regions achieved for their respective domains with the autonomy. It is unfortunate that the leaders allowed centrifugal and centripetal forces to pull the tug off their feet, leading to the 1965 violence, the 1966 pogrom and the eventual three- year civil war(1967-1970).
The separatist movement within Yorubaland have the same broad objectives as the mainstream leaders; it is the means of pursuing them that slightly differs. But then, violence is never one of their options. Prof. Akintoye is one of the most prominent Yoruba Nation campaigners. He has, however, been carrying on using his intellectual prowess, online and mainstream media and peaceful engagements to reach out. Possible separation from the federation through peaceful negotiations has been his recourse. Sunday Adeyemo, aka Sunday Igboho, who came into public consciousness through violence, understandably because he was defending his people against the murderous Fulani people, has had his rumbustious tendencies tempered significantly since he returned from exile.
Hence, Onitiri’s fatuous declaration and the invasion of Agodi seat of power are an embarrassment to herself, to the Yoruba people in particular and Nigerians in general. What does she and her co-travelers want? She undertook her impetuous expedition at a time a Yoruba man is president. Since the annulment of June 12 poll, Southwest has had its relatively fair share of power and its appurtenances.
This is, however, not to say that disequilibrium has disappeared from the system. Far from it. The country is still begging for reforms along the line of restructuring and drastic constitutional re-engineering. The general belief is that we either restructure the country now, devolve powers to the regions and replace the military-fashioned 1999 Constitution with a more workable, people-oriented Constitution and survive as a nation, or continue as usual and be doomed.
We believe, in fact, that the Yoruba people can still realize their aspirations within a restructured Nigeria. It will serve them better to remain in the federation because our size and diversity are a source of strength rather than weakness, provided virtues of justice, equity and fairness are allowed a space. But everything has to be pursued and achieved through peaceful means.
Hence, Mrs Onitiri-Abiola must be thoroughly investigated to unfurl her possible sponsors. She must be tried, punished and tamed. Her group must be disbanded and outlawed. Already, 29 of those who invaded Oyo seat of power have been arrested and slammed with a seven-count charge bordering on treasonable felony, being members of an unlawful organization, illegal possession of firearms and conduct likely to breach the peace. Their trial must be conducted with clinical efficiency and they must receive the sledge hammer of the law to deter others.
Security agencies must maximally engage in intelligent network to unnerve other self-determination groups with violent inclinations and tame them drastically. We must prevent the recrudescence of the Ibadan episode. Onitiri’s unguarded action may have unwittingly set a dangerous precedent. So, the authorities must act decisively now to prevent more of the violence-inclined self-determination groups from springing up and gaining traction.
Mercifully, President Tinubu has warned that the severe hammer of the law will fall on anyone or group of persons tampering with the peace and unity of the country. He vowed to keep the country as one. He told leaders of Afenifere who paid him a courtesy visit penultimate Wednesday at Aso Villa, Abuja: “I’m irrevocably committed to the unity of Nigeria and constitutional democracy.” He added: “Constitutional democracy has been reflected greatly here since we assumed office… . God bless Nigeria. God bless our unity. Our diversity must bring prosperity for all for the sake of Nigeria.” Well said, Mr President!
Southwest has been one of the most peaceful zones today. And that is not by accident. The people are peace- loving, friendly to visitors and handle combustible issues with sagacity and tact. It must not be allowed to slide into violence and anarchy. We should learn from the experience of the Southeast; how the violent campaign of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has stricture governance and virtually paralyzed the economic activities of the zone.
Yes, we need equity, justice and fairness, but not through violence. It achieves nothing but destruction, tears, blood and eternal regrets!
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