The administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the leaders of the Yoruba Kingdom get puzzled by the renewed agitation by some Yoruba, South west elements who passionately crave for the severing of their region from Nigeria to establish a Yoruba nation they call “Oduduwa Republic”
By Lukmon Ojerinde
Their audacity was overwhelming to an extent that even the paramilitary agencies got scared. The non-state actors were all hooded and armed to the teeth, yet they never cared a hoot about being arrested be constituted law enforcers. As they advanced for the Oyo State House of Assembly and Government House to seize them, they were chanting songs of agitation that attracted onlookers.
These rag-tag military arm of the Oduduwa Republic Agitators, according to available information, had on Saturday, April 13, 2024, plotted to take over the Oyo State House of Assembly and by extension the State’s Government House, both located close to each other in the ancient city of Ibadan, the state capital, and turned them to their administrative and operational base pending when they would consummate the plot to sever the South west region from Nigeria.
Investigation revealed that though the agitators knew they could not succeed in just one attempt, they had sought to create awareness that the configuration of the country has disadvantaged many regions and stunted the development of the human capital and material wealth. Hence the Yoruba nation commonly referred to as the Oduduwa Republic, remains an ambition and dream that cannot be wished away no matter the scheming of the ruling class to the contrary.
On the fateful day, the masked agitators who adorned military camouflage and wielded dangerous weapons had taken positions in strategic locations at the Oyo State Government Secretariat. Some of them had manned the main entrance to the governor’s office, while others blocked the main entrance to the House of Assembly.
Even the police who fired teargas to disperse the agitators knew they were not common criminals to be rough handled because they had clearly stated their mission through their songs, that their major mission was to hoist the Oduduwa Republic’s flag at the Oyo State Government House. Hence, even the Executive Assistant to the Oyo State governor on Security, Sunday Odukoya, a retired Commissioner of Police, would not seek to apply force in dealing with them but engaged them diplomatically to calm their frayed nerves.
The insistence of the Yoruba nation agitators that they must hoist the Oduduwa Republic flag burned intensely until the arrival of soldiers from 2 Division of the Nigerian Army after about an hour of operation by the agitators. They promptly took to their heels on sighting the soldiers according to eye witness account. Eighteen of the agitators were, however, apprehended by security operatives.
The duo of Sunday Adeyemo popular as Igboho and Professor Banjo Akintoye, identified masterminds of the Yoruba nation agitation, had since distanced themselves from the violent agitators, insisting they were not part of those who sought to hoist the flag. Yet, a prominent protagonist of the latest agitation has surface. She is identified as Mrs Modupe Onitiri -Abiola who is said to be a widow of the late Moshood Kolawole Abiola, acclaimed winner of the 1993 presidential election.
The middle -aged Onitiri -Abiola who wore white blouse and spoke in Yoruba language on a viral video, said she spoke on behalf of someone. According to her, that someone “Is a youth. How many people will dare what he’s trying to do? And he has made the sacrifice that he would do it. He said he would never contest any election and lead as an acting Head. We are organised people, we are sovereign people, and we will do things accordingly. We have decided to leave Nigeria, and we have left since November 2022.
“We are declaring this day that we are no longer part of the country. With the awesome power that God used to create the sky and seven clouds, moon and stars, I, Modupe Onitiri-Abiola, proclaim a Democratic Republic of Yoruba. Yoruba has become a nation without any opposition. It is so, it is a declaration that God has caused to stay. Yoruba, today, April 12, 2024, begins as a sovereign nation and will operate as a country”.
Rattled by the audacity of the youthful Democratic Republic of Yoruba agitators against the background that a Yoruba of the South west, Tinubu, is the sitting President of the country, Afenifere, the Yoruba socio-cultural group, had promptly condemned the invasion of the Oyo State Government House by the agitators. In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr Jare Ajayi, Afenifere said those who took part in the invasion did not act in the interest of the Yoruba people whom they alleged to be representing. Afenifere also denied the existence of an intending country referred to as the Democratic Republic of Yoruba.
The statement read, “Yoruba is an important component of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. As is well known, there cannot be a sovereign republic within an extant sovereign republic.
“At the moment, Yoruba are indigenous in Ekiti, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Osun and Oyo States and parts of Kwara, Kogi, Delta and Edo States of Nigeria, just as they are found in other parts of the world.
“But solution to the shortcomings do not lie in violent divisions. Rather, what we should strive for is how the perceived wrongs in the country can be righted.
“Afenifere is of the strong view that President Bola Tinubu’s administration is taking steps to rejig Nigeria in a manner that would make the country become one that every citizen would be proud of soonest. Restructuring the country is a sure way of accelerating this.
“This is why we are relentless in our agitation for restructuring”.
The Oodua Progressive Union (OPU) has also admitted responsibility for the attempted occupation of the Oyo State Government House by the Yoruba nation agitators. The Deputy Coordinator for the agitators, Victor Adewale who is based in Sweden, said President Tinubu and governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, would bear the brunt if security agencies failed to release its members arrested in connection with the attempted occupation.
The European Coordinator of the OPU, Adewale noted that he was installed the Akingbaye Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland in the year 2020.
In a statement, Adewale said, “If Seyi Makinde refuses to release our men that were arrested and makes them sleep in the cell, he has called for war, and Bola Tinubu will be greatly affected. The way we will revenge, you won’t all understand.
“I’m directed to warn you for the last time. Governor Makinde must release our warriors he arrested at the Secretariat in Ibadan. He must release them immediately, he should return them to the Secretariat, let them be doing their own there and we should be doing ours.
“If he continues to hold them, wherever you are, you will be rooted out. Our proclamation letters are with them. Tinubu, Tunji Disu, Makinde and all Amotekun in Yorubaland and the police, you must release those guys immediately. War is coming and I want to implore Yoruba people to go out en mass to protest. However, whether you like it or not, we have an interim government now for Yoruba nation”.
In a twist, another Victor Adewale has emerged as the authentic Publicity Secretary to the OPU, claiming in a statement that the OPU was not in any way linked with the actualisation of the Oduduwa Republic. The second Adewale also revealed that the Sweden-based Adewale is an impersonator whose real identity is Mobolaji Olawale Akintola Omokore.
In his reaction to the Yoruba nation saga, President Tinubu has insisted that he remained committed to the unity of the country. While playing host to the leaders of Afenifere who paid him a visit on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, also warned ethnic agitators against the price they would pay for wanting to destabilize Nigeria.
Tinubu had said, “I am irrevocably committed to the unity of Nigeria and constitutional democracy. Constitutional democracy is reflected greatly here since we assumed office.
“What we face now is the challenge of terrorism. Security of life and property is very necessary for development. I can tell you we are achieving success. We have degraded terrorism to a level that they cannot threaten the sovereignty of Nigeria any longer.
“Banditry and kidnapping will be defeated. And there is no payment of ransom whatsoever. We are taking the battle to them. We are getting result more rapidly than before.
“We are working hard on intelligence gathering. Those who think they can threaten the sovereignty of Nigeria will have themselves to blame. They have a price to pay, and we are not going to relent”.
Also, the Oyo State Government had on Wednesday, April 17 allegedly demolished the residence of Onitiri-Abiola who declared that Yorubaland had become a sovereign nation.
