By Kayode Emola
This year, 2024, many elections are due to be held in many countries and continents across the world, from Russia to the U.S.A, the UK and Ghana, to mention just a few. These are no ordinary elections: their outcomes will determine the course of the world’s direction for the next four to five years, and actions taken during this period may change our world for a lifetime.
This January marks exactly 100 years since British politics saw a minority labour government first become a major player. The incumbent Conservative party holding the majority seat could not organise themselves to govern the country, and so King George V asked James MacDonald to form a government.
This was a breakthrough for the Labour party, and since then they have established the Labour party as a household party in the UK. Although the UK has only seen six Labour Prime Ministers hold office since then, it is nonetheless remarkable that a party not even recognised as a viable opposition candidate at the beginning of the twentieth century has now become the party of choice for millions of ordinary Brits.
In 1948, it was the Labour party who introduced the health care free at the point of delivery. This scheme now employs over 2 million people, both British and non-British alike, as well as saving the lives of millions of ordinary people that would otherwise have been lost every year.
This year the UK may welcome another Labour Prime Minister, the quality of whose tenure will only be told in time. My hope and prayers for the British people, as well as the other nations, is that the next five years will bring peace, prosperity and progress.
Prior to Nigeria’s amalgamation in 1914, we had our own traditional government guiding the affairs of our people. That framework was systematically eroded and replaced by the corrupt structure we see today, that gives nothing to our people but takes from us everything, including our dignity. It is this corruption that those of us fighting for self-determination are resolved to put behind us; yet, if care is not taken, we ourselves risk making the same mistakes this government has done.
In order to pursue our self-determination effectively, we need to take on the role of agents of change, avoiding the pitfalls of conformism. We must move beyond merely pointing out the failures of the Nigerian government, toward offering our people a plausible alternative.
The British administrators did not seek to conform to our system, as they corrupted our government to suit the purposes of the UK and its allies. Neither did they achieve this overnight, but rather toiled for many years before they succeeded in taking the whole country. Therefore, we, in the self-determination, must also be prepared to do so. Without hard work, persistence and commitment, we will just keep going in circles waiting for a day that will never come, where Nigeria will be handed to us on a platter.
If we are to create meaningful progress along our journey toward self-determination, we must move away from mere street protests and instead start building a system to govern ourselves. One idea posited as a means of doing this is that of the _*Customary Law Government*_. This term, enshrined in international laws, describes a system of unwritten rules within a society that are based on traditional practices, values, and customs, and are therefore considered lawful by that society.
This idea far supersedes any Yoruba socio-cultural associations or organisations that have previously been formed and provides the perfect solution to our dilemma of how to free ourselves from tyrannical Nigeria. It offers a means by which we can finally liberate our people without guns and bullets.
The fact that Nigeria is not working is plain for all to see, so there is no point spending time discussing its failures. Instead, we should invest our energies in giving our people a taste of what an independent Yoruba nation could offer. Setting up our Customary Law Government will provide a locus around which development can begin, and so we must prioritise this as a matter of urgency.
After all, the great Awolowo, the leader venerated by vast swathes of our people today, did not inherit a functional Yoruba nation. He built our land and edified its people to be able to take on the challenges of the future, and it is his foundations that many of us enjoyed and are living off today. Therefore, if we are to make any headway in our quest for self-determination, we must emulate his actions and direct our efforts towards building strong and responsible governance.
We must move away from the myopic arguments over which organisation should be at the centre or who holds what position within an organisation. If we truly wish to reach the promised land sooner, each of us needs to sacrifice our ego and desire for status, and instead focus on humbly doing whatever is needed, no matter how menial. What matters now is quality governance for the nation as a whole, not the egotistical brawling for position within the self-determination movement.
I hope that we can have the foresight to act now whilst time is available to us, so that we don’t find ourselves in another round of panicked fire-fighting when we suddenly realise that there is no longer a Yoruba man holding the presidency of Nigeria. We need to be focus and act on our determination to see freedom, rather than our fears of failure. By acting today, we may afford our children and generations yet unborn the occasion to remember us positively in the next 100 years, just as the Labour party are in Britain.
