By Kayode Emola
It is the time of election campaigning in Nigeria and many people are asking, what will happen if a Yoruba man becomes the next president of Nigeria? Would the self-determination struggle collapse? Is it possible, in just eight years, to undo all the damage from the preceding regimes? My simple answer is, whilst we remain in this deceptive unitary system that we all are pretending is a federal arrangement, nothing good is going to happen to better the lot of ordinary Nigerians.
We can wish as much as we can, however, if we continue to live this mediocre life and accept mediocre leadership, then, not only will we be second class citizens in our own country, we may become vassals for the rest of our lives. The ruination of our homeland will render those of us living outside the country as good as stateless, united by the culture and language of a place that no longer exists.
Statistics show that Yoruba are emigrating in their thousands from Nigeria to countries all around the world, seeking a better life. Some who make it to these new worlds manage to change their fortunes, but many don’t. When members of a country are choosing to spend upwards of 40 or 50 years in diaspora, when there is no option for them to return because of the situation in their home country, then one must question what is going on in their homeland to cause such exile.
Nigeria finds herself in this category, a badly damaged vessel benefiting only a small minority, whilst the majority are impoverished and helpless, unable to see any means by which to free themselves from their bondage. This bondage engenders the ‘Nigerian factor’: people prefering to seek the easy road, rather than expend their energies on fighting for what is right. We must learn now to push back against those things that drag us down, and instead fight passionately to defend _Ọmọluabi_, the way of life that we desire and deserve.
Last week, the UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman announced that the country was going to tighten the legislation allowing foreign student to bring their dependents to the UK whilst they are studying there. Although this policy is presently only in the developmental stage, I am certain the UK will implement measures to reduce the migration into the country.
The statistics available demonstrate that the overall number of Nigerian students and their dependants – around 65,000 – are still fewer than the 93,049 Indian students who were granted a study visa for the same period. However, it is the ratio of students to dependants that has caught the attention of the UK authorities. Approximately 34,000 Nigerian students have come into the UK, and brought over 31,000 dependents – a ratio of nearly 1:1. On the other hand, the Indian students brought around 24,900 dependants – averaging nearly four students for each dependent.
Recall that prior to October 1986, Nigerians could travel to the UK without entry clearance; and prior to January 1983 any foreign nationals born in the UK could claim citizenship at birth. However, the sheer scale of immigration from Nigeria and other Commonwealth countries caused the UK government to deem this arrangement unsustainable, and to thus curtail the availability of such privileges.
As such, if we continue to abuse the UK student visa scheme in this manner, we can expect to see a revocation of the permission to bring dependents, or possibly even of the visa scheme itself. This is the ‘Nigerian factor’ at play, and it is having a deleterious effect on our standing before foreign nations. We must learn to address issues at home holistically rather than run away from them, as has so often been our default solution in the past. The mass exodus of Yoruba, Igbo and other indigenous tribes from Nigeria is not because they have found their Shangri-La abroad; it is because their home is failing, and so people are taking the easy alternative.
This leads one to ask, why does anyone think that a mere change of guard will usher fresh air into Nigeria? I do not believe that the 2023 election is what Nigeria needs to reverse her descent into ruin. Rather, every Nigerian citizen and stakeholder needs to give the matter serious thought, then take the bull by the horns and open an authentic debate on how we move forward. Failure to do so will amount to nothing more than kicking the can further down the road toward Armageddon.
If any Yoruba person thinks that the election of a Yoruba candidate as president will change our downward trajectory in Nigeria, they are sadly misguided. Remember that the current Minister of Works was formerly the Governor of Lagos, yet in nearly eight years of holding that role, he did not build even 100km of roads across the whole of Yorubaland. Nor did we see any new dormitories built in Yoruba universities in that period. How then will a Yoruba presidency be any different, that it will benefit the average Yoruba person?
The rate of decay in the Nigerian system far outstrips what any president could overturn inside eight years. We have never been a united people since amalgamation, owing to the manner in which it was conducted. No amount of effort can unite a people who have no desire to coexist harmoniously, and no divided country can ever prosper. Whilst the south is preaching unity at all cost, the north is preaching unity by conquest. It is better we open our eyes to the situation and make the firm decision to leave Nigeria now, before it is too late.
Our history demonstrates that we know what we need to do to create a functional economy, one that can sustain satisfactory living standards for everyone across Yorubaland, because we did so throughout the period from 1952-62. If our population of around 60 – 80 million can be united in striving for this common goal, any future Yoruba nation has the capacity to be bigger and better than even Great Britain in terms of economic activities. We have an abundance of both human and natural resources, just waiting to be harnessed efficiently. If properly utilised, we can be, not just _one of_ the leading nations in world, but _the_ leading nation.
Therefore, it is high time we looked in the mirror and admit the truth to ourselves, that there is a lot of work ahead. We must begin to put in the hard graft needed to secure, firstly, our sovereignty as an independent nation, and, secondly, the tools needed to make that nation viable. Continuing to propagate the falsehood that Nigeria will one day be better is tantamount to living in a fools’ paradise. Not one of the presidential candidates has what it takes to make Nigeria work, because the problem is bigger than any one man. Nigeria is not a homogenous country, and the earlier we realise that, the better it will be for the sanity of every one of us.
I will not be the one to tell my children and their children that we failed to fight for a better life for them; or that we saw the warning signs and yet ignored the danger approaching. I want to be among those that will reach the finish line of our struggle, securing Yoruba independence, and with it, a better future for our people. My question to you is, will you join the millions of Yoruba around the world fighting for a better future? Or will you continue to pin your hopes on a Nigeria that will never deliver? The choice is yours; but as for me and my household, we will do every thing within our power to fight for a better Yorubaland.
