Voice of Emancipation: Ongoing Insecurity in Kwara State: A Cause for Concern

By Kayode Emola

By now, the good people of Kwara State will feel as though they are alone in the fight against insecurity on their land. For lack of clarity, they are unsure who to turn to for help in times of need. They are constantly faced with the question of whether they are from the North, Yoruba, or the Southwest.

The Federal and State governments seem unconcerned about the plight of these people. The people themselves are caught between the uncertainty of crying to the northern people or the Yoruba people for help, as they are at a crossroads in terms of their identity.

The fact of the matter is that Yoruba must remove the myth from their mind that Kwara state belongs to the north. Kwara state, for all intents and purposes, is a Yorubaland, and whatever affects the Kwara people affects the rest of the Yoruba.

Therefore, we must be decisive in our actions to support our people in our Yoruba northern borders. They must not be left on their own to do battle against the Fulani marauders, seeing that the government is not ready to help them in any way, shape, or form.

We hear this week that the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Coordinator in Kwara state has announced to newsmen in Ilorin that the 2025 Batch B orientation camp will be relocated to Kwara State Polytechnic. Not only is this a sign of giving in to the insecurity in Kwara, but it will also rob the people of Edu local government of the exposure that the orientation exercise brings to their community.

One community at a time, and the Yoruba people seem to be losing ground to the incursion of Yoruba land by these terrorists. Yet, we claim to have a Yoruba president, and some people are already gearing themselves for the renewal of their suffering come 2027, when it is time to renew their suffering in sham elections.

Despite the challenges we face as a people, I am pleased with the little support the leadership of the self-determination struggle is providing for the people on the ground in Kwara state. It goes a long way to show that we are actively seeking the liberation of our people in the northernmost part of Yorubaland.

This is despite the victimisation of the people themselves by successive governments of Kwara state and the Federal government. We witnessed how the Oba of Jebba, a few years ago, had his entitlement withheld by the state government with the old man having to be dragged from one court to another.

The successive governments in Kwara state, trying to please their Fulani paymasters, have over the years employed wicked tactics to weaken the morale of the Yoruba people in Kwara state. We cannot afford to fold our arms and watch the enemies of Yorubaland do to us whatever they want in the name of political correctness.

We must be ready to take the matters of insecurity in Kwara state to appropriate local and international quarters where help can genuinely be gotten. If the Federal government that controls the military and police cannot guarantee the security of lives and properties of the Yoruba people of Kwara state and every other state in Nigeria. Then we may have to seek the world’s attention to the security challenges facing our people back home.

I only hope and pray that our people understand that the only way to end this incursion into Yorubaland is to get a decisive victory for the Yoruba people. If Yoruba land gets its autonomy to make its own laws and govern itself, then we would not need to go hand in cap begging for any authority to save us.

We will be able to do the needful by bringing security to the people wherever they are in Yorubaland. The good people of Edu local government will not have to miss out on the vital development that their land will enjoy when events like the NYSC orientation exercise are being conducted.

We have witnessed farmers not being able to go to their farmlands in Yorubaland, and people being kidnapped on the highways and in their houses. Now, it is entire communities that are being displaced. If we keep mute and do nothing, we may wake up one day to find out that what we call Yorubaland no longer exists if we do nothing to safeguard it for the generations unborn. My hope and prayer are that the Yoruba people rise to the occasion to save us from this unnecessary embarrassment. If not, future generations will curse us for doing nothing to safeguard their future.