By Kayode Emola
As the campaign for the actualisation of Yoruba Sovereign Nation reaches its defining moment, there needs to be an assessment of the level of readiness amongst our people. The opinions on this are divided, with some people of the view that we are ill-prepared, some people thinking that we require time, and some people who believe that we are as ready as we can be, and if we don’t take our opportunity now, we will never achieve independence.
Just a few days ago, I read the story of the Jewish people as recounted by the long-serving Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. He described how, less than 75 years ago, there was no nation of Israel; yet by holding their ground against six powerful Arab armies, they built a nation that is still standing today.
Furthermore, recall how the Egyptians held their own against the might of the British, French and Israeli armies during the Suez Canal crisis of 1956. These two examples show that readiness and resilience have nothing to do with amassing military might – attaining Yoruba independence is not predicated solely on gathering all the armies of the world to fight Nigeria.
Rather, our readiness is built on our mental alertness to the many injustices we as Yoruba have faced and are still facing in Nigeria. Our readiness is our willingness to raise our voices to call for an end to it. Our readiness is standing up for our rights, holding fast to our position that there will be no general election 2023 until the fundamental question of sovereignty is addressed. If sovereignty belongs to the people, then we, the people, need to join hands and fight for that right.
In preparing to reclaim our sovereignty, we must understand the challenges ahead and formulate contingencies for when they arise. First of those challenges is to identify who and what we are really fighting in the struggle for freedom from Nigeria.
My assessment is that the fight is against our fellow Yoruba people, not actually our avowed enemy, the Fulani. When we clamour for our sovereign nation, it is our own people who are quick to shut us down, rather the Fulani.
First among these people are the traditional rulers. These rulers fail to recognise that they represent the people and need to at all times fight for their interest. If the traditional leaders had openly and unanimously declared that the atrocities committed by the Fulani marauders on Yoruba soil must stop, or else they would take action to pull Yoruba nation out of Nigeria, the situation would have been a different ball game, with Yoruba edging towards sovereignty long before now.
Second on the list are the politicians. These are the direct beneficiaries of Nigeria’s decadence and so have a vested interest in preserving the status quo. Any variation of the current dynamic may be unfavourable for them, even potentially displacing them entirely from their hegemonic empire. They willingly trade the destruction of their people’s futures in exchange for their own comfort and security.
The third set are our unsuspecting populace who still endorse Nigeria as a nation. In conversation with a Ghanaian lady earlier this year, I told her, when asked, that I’m from Yorubaland. She insisted that I was therefore from Nigeria, whilst I maintained the distinction that I am from Yorubaland, not Nigeria. In the ensuing debate, I asked her, what language does Nigeria speak? When she answered, “English,” I pointed out that English is not a Nigerian language but was artificially imposed on the people.
At the end of the day, she acceded that what we now accept as truth are, in fact, lies that we have been fed consistently over the decades. Nigeria is not a nation, but rather a country made up of many nations forcibly amalgamated. Therefore, what we are experiencing in Nigeria is not a national crisis but a crisis of nationalities. Every election conducted in Nigeria since 1966 has not been based on national issues but on nationality issues. This is the sole reason there that the North-South divide still exists and can never be resolved.
In order to end this divide and rebuild unity, Nigeria needs to be dissolved, with every nationality deciding for themselves the best way they want to be governed. Nigeria was created to serve the British interests; and, now that the British have left our shores, there is no reason for us to support this unsustainable arrangement that benefits no one but the political cabals.
Every Yoruba person must realise that the only way to true freedom is if we control our own destiny, which can only be possible in a sovereign Yoruba nation. Anything less will simply perpetuate our status as second-class citizens, with foreigners dictating how we should live in our God-gifted ancestral homeland.
From my interactions with a wide spectrum of Yoruba people, I can confidently say 90% of us want an independent Yoruba nation. However, less than 10% of us are ready to do what is necessary to achieve this noble goal. As it is said, visionaries are few but reactionaries are many. These reactionaries should take heed of the brewing revolution, knowing that it will be greater than anything seen before, and should ensure that they are prepared for the tumult that will follow.
The Yoruba people are speaking, calling with one voice to proceed with the actualisation of Yoruba national independence. For those who are yet to get ready, there is no time to procrastinate. It is no longer a question of ‘if’, but a question of ‘when’; and slowly but surely that day is drawing ever nearer. I advise us all: be ever ready so that when that day arrives, we are not caught unawares.
