By Kayode Emola
It is exactly 3 years since the egregious shooting and killing of innocent citizens at the Lekki toll gate by the Nigerian army. These were innocent youths protesting police brutality and other forms of harassment. Although, the protest led to the disbandment of the infamous Police Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) unit, I don’t think the pains and suffering it left behind will go away anytime soon.
Nigeria as a country today often feels like it is fighting against the progress and prosperity of its citizens especially the youth. If not, why should there be a special anti-robbery squad to police innocent youth just for holding a mobile phone and a laptop. Such energies should have been focused elsewhere where there is serious crime going on.
Take the case of the Nigerian politicians, they steal money with impunity, and there is no law enforcement to challenge them, Instead the law romances them thus emboldening them to even steal more. Until serious crime is being punished in Nigeria either by long term prison sentence, or forfeiture of all assets, there will be no way the country can make a head way.
The current crop of Nigerian politicians will do everything to maintain the status quo, in as much as it is benefiting them and their cronies to the detriment of the citizens. They will continue to oppress the citizens who are too timid to fight back for their rights and continue to accept whatever rubbish is being piled on them.
The ENDSARS protest was a truly historic moment in Nigeria’s history, where the youth stood up to the authority of the day. These were gallant Yoruba youths who motivated the entire Southern Nigeria to come out in a peaceful protest against police brutality.
One may think that police brutality is the only form of social injustice the citizens of Nigeria are facing, far from it. The current president Bola Tinubu promised to make life better for the citizens when he gets into power, however, reality is dawning on people living in Nigeria that it is easier said than done.
The economy is in complete shambles, and the naira is on a free fall with no job prospect for the millions of unemployed youths. If people are still waiting for the messiah politician to come save Nigeria, then we may be waiting a long time for nothing.
Nigeria has passed its use by date; it was created to serve the purpose of the British government during the colonial era and that it did very well. The time has come for us ethnic nationalities within Nigeria to realise that a united Nigeria is not possible, therefore the best solution is complete dissolution.
Afterall, Yugoslavia was once like us, with ethnic interests and sentiments being used to run the country. Today, there is no more Yugoslavia and each of the 6 countries that came out of Yugoslavia are doing far better than the entire country put together back then. Therefore, anyone still hanging on to Nigeria with the aim of salvaging it is only just deceiving the populace.
We Yoruba must not afford to be complacent in our quest for an independent Yoruba nation. We must pursue it with more zeal and vigour as that is the only hope left for our people back home. Anything short of an independent Yoruba nation is just a sticking plaster to a massive wound.
The sooner we all agree to dissolve Nigeria, the better it will be for all of us. We should not make the mistake that it is the politicians that will bring about the dissolution we all desire. It is we the people that will drive that change by constantly being a pain in the neck of the Nigerian authorities.
We must begin to engage constructively with the Nigerian State and the various stakeholders from other ethnic nationalities. However, most importantly, we need to engage our Yoruba people as they are the drivers of this change.
If we all can come together as one Yoruba people and fight this good fight with courage and determination to win, then I don’t see how the Nigerian government can stop us from achieving our own independent Yoruba country.
If we continue to remain comfortable with the pain and suffering Nigeria is inflicting on our people, then I am afraid to say there are darker days ahead. The collapse of the economy now is just a small part of the story, people may begin to take their own lives and that of their loved ones if they believe there is no hope for the future.
We the Yoruba nation activists must ensure we build hope and confidence in the hearts of our people and reassure them that there is a way out. We must continue to oil the flame of hope so that our detractors do not extinguish the glorious future of the next generation. As we continue to press on, I believe that one day we shall all smile in victory when our new nation is born.
