No going back on Oduduwa Republic

  

-Prof. Banji Akintoye, president, Yoruba World Congress

•Calls for Nigeria’s breakup not treasonable

Eminent scholar and President of Yoruba World Congress, Prof. Banji Akintoye has declared that agitation for self-determination is a legitimate struggle, and not an act of treasonable felony as the federal government wants Nigerians to believe. As such, he vowed that there will be no going back on the renewed push for an Oduduwa Republic for the Yoruba nation, even as he advised against using force or taking any action that may cause harm to those calling for Nigeria’s breakup.

On this agitation for Oduduwa Republic, some Nigerians are saying that it is a fluke, and another attempt ……

Cuts in…Those saying that should wait until October 1st to know whether it is real or not. But I want to declare here that nobody should harbour any doubt about the determination of Yoruba for self-determination. There is no going back, and come October 1st, we are going to make a formal declaration about it, and nobody including federal government can stop us. The whole world is already aware of our mission, and there is nothing federal government can do about it because what we are doing is not in any way illegal. It is within our legitimate right to determine whether we want to stay or not in the union called Nigeria. There is no way we can be held against our will if our people have already made up their mind to leave Nigeria. Nigeria is living on borrowed time, and it is just a matter of time before we all go our separate ways. There is no going back, Oduduwa  Republic has come to stay. It has become a reality.

There is so much injustice in Nigeria, and it is only here you have this kind of injustice, and oppression. There has been so much Fulani domination, and oppression of other groups in the country, and we can’t continue this way and this is why we feel that the best option for Yoruba is to exercise their right to self-determination. A country where one group is always aspiring to conquer other sections can no longer be called a country. The situation in the country today is so bad that it has gone beyond restructuring, which some people are even calling for. The Fulani people have a hidden agenda, and unfortunately President Muhammadu Buhari is helping the Fulani to actualise their agenda of dominating other Nigerians through his political appointments and general ways he has been running his government, and other Nigerians can no longer fold their hands and continue watching things going on this way. Another annoying thing is that the Fulani in Nigeria are even bringing Fulani from outside Nigeria to participate in the conquest of other Nigerians. This is no longer acceptable. Countries fight wars but when they do so, it is against outsiders, and not against their own people like the Fulani are doing to others in Nigeria. A country where a section is aspiring to conquer other sections can no longer be referred to as a country. The Fulani say Nigeria belongs to them, and that they are going to take lands that belong to other ethnic nationalities, and this is why you have all these invasions taking place in the Middle-Belt, Southern Kaduna, and other parts of the country. The reality of the situation is that we the Yoruba can’t continue to live with another group that believes in the subjugation, and conquest of others.

Will you say this is part of the reasons why the clamour for Biafra, and North-Central Republic has been growing louder?

The Fulani invasion of other parts of the country has destroyed Nigeria, and majority of Nigerians no longer have faith in this country again. This is no longer the Nigeria of the dream of the founding fathers. Since majority of Nigerians no longer have faith in being together again, the best solution is for people to go their different ways but we don’t have to do it in a chaotic manner. The best way to go about it is to generate a process of negotiation, whereby we would sit around the table, and discuss in frank manners so that we won’t be enemies of one another for ever like the situation you have between Israel, and some Arab nations.  It must be done in such a way that there will be no bloodshed or loss of lives. Other countries especially in Europe have done it that way, and so there is no reason we can’t do it also. There is nothing strange about Nigeria breaking up, and not only that, I believe the break-up can be done peacefully.

Ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo recently convened a dialogue with leaders of five socio-cultural groups across the country where he raised the alarm that Nigeria was drifting fast to a failed state. Do you agree with him?

Nigeria is already a failed state, a country in which some citizens of the country are invading other sections, and the federal government couldn’t stop it. If this is happening, and those who are supposed to stop it are not doing so, then in what other way do you refer to Nigeria other than being a failed state? 

All the indices point to the fact that Nigeria has not only failed but it is disintegrating, fast. Although I don’t know the time-line but definitely breakup is imminent, and there is nothing anybody can do to stop it. I also want to state categorically here that any attempt to stop agitating for breakup will fail. Already the United Nations, and other members of the international community are aware of what is happening in the country. Any attempt to suppress people expressing their interests to  self-determination will fail.

Obviously, the former President is pushing for restructuring, and a new constitution rather than the amendment the National Assembly is working on, is that the way to go?

The National Assembly is not working on any amendment. They are just deceiving Nigerians. This is what they claim to be doing every year, and it has been discovered that this is nothing but deceit. Almost every year the National Assembly claims to be doing this but Nigerians have discovered that they are not being honest so there is nothing to talk about on that. And like I said earlier, Nigeria has even gone beyond restructuring. What we should be talking about now is negotiated break up. That is the only solution to Nigeria’s problems.