By Kayode Emola

For decades the Oyo Empire ruled many Yoruba lands, and exercising authority far beyond their territorial reach. Subjecting these Yoruba lands into their fiefdom caused many bad blood and animosities among the oppressed peoples whose lands and livelihood were been pillaged.

The Oyo chiefs unperturbed with their highhandedness of the people they exert dominion over continued to believe that nothing can bring their rule to an end. Alas, the story of Fabunni whose fiancée was raped by one of the Oyo chief’s Ajele’s (agents) changed the course of direction, not just for the Oyo empire but for the entire Yoruba land.

For over a decade in the late 19th century, Yoruba land was engulfed in long wars among several tribes on the east and west of Yoruba land who either believed in Oyo rule or against Oyo rule. The end result was the colonialisation of the entire Yoruba land by the British government.

Today, over 100 years of the signing of the peace treaty, Yoruba land still languishes under the burden of colonialism. The struggle for freedom and human rights of their people by the Ekiti parapo warriors seems today like their fighting was in vain. Our people who have lived under subjugation of one imperial power or the other still suffer under the heavy burden of Nigeria today. We have no power to free ourselves by dialogue except by picking up arms and marching down to the battlefield.

Our enemy looks formidable in our weakness and we allow them ride over us by our inability to present a formidable strategy that is able to free us once and for all from this tyrannical rule. We have become a hopeless and helpless people whose solution is to run away from our God giving land seeking refuge abroad. Many of us are now so used to living abroad that we forget about our place of origin and the troubles that drove us away from home.

When we talk about the struggle for our liberation, many laugh at us as if the freedom we talk about is an alien word. At best, they sympathise with our dilemma but the truth is that just like the Ekiti parapo warriors, all Yoruba must now come together as one to demand for their freedom. The British who came in as mediator eventually became the bigger problem, we must now deal with their colonial subjects they’ve imposed on us as our rulers.

Yoruba land has no business in Nigeria, and we cannot afford to leave this struggle for the coming generation. Those who seek to take the easy route by demanding for regionalism must understand that it will end up becoming the longest route. We would go far if we as Yoruba from all divide on the spectrum of the freedom struggle come to a round table to discuss the best approach to liberate ourselves from the shackles Nigeria has placed on our neck.

Just like September 23 1886 marked the beginning of a renewed hope of unity in Yoruba land, we must make September 23 2024 a day where all Yoruba would reflect on the struggles of our hero’s past. Whilst Idande, and the Yoruba Regional Alliance are planning a grand event to celebrate this year’s event in Ile-Ife, we must give them every support we can in their quest for Yoruba unity. Those in London can also support groups like Think Yoruba First who are putting up similar events to bring all Yoruba at home and the diaspora together.

Above all, we must remember that the struggle for freedom, human rights and the rule of law is not about politics, religion or sexual affinity. It is the very basis of our existence and the realisation that all humans are born free and should have the right to make choices for themselves without external interference.

I implore my Yoruba people to take this year’s celebration to reflect on the sacrifices of those that lost their lives for the cause of freedom in the Kirii war. Let their death mean something for those of us alive to witness their struggle for our liberty. We must not relent in demanding justice for the millions of our people trapped in abject poverty and unable to find a way out.

We must understand that the time for total liberation is now and we cannot afford to relent in our quest for justice. Just like the Oyo empire fell to the British rule, we must strive to bring our Yoruba country outside the Nigerian rule and establish a government that will cater for the needs of all rather than the needs of the few who find themselves in political position.

This is the time for real change and we must be prepared to do everything we can to liberate ourselves from the Nigerian mess. I hope those that are still sitting on the fence will join forces with progressives like us in demanding the reestablishment of our Yoruba country so that our children and their children can live a better life.

By Kayode Emola

Every keen observer of Nigeria knows there is no way out of the country’s national mess. From the brazen brandishing of sophisticated weapons by terrorists in broad daylight to the clarion call for self-determination by every nationality in the southern and Middlebelt of Nigeria. I believe it is safe to say it’s only a matter of time before things fall apart in Nigeria and everyone can go their way.

One of the major glues binding Nigeria apart from football is fuel subsidy. This was the only thing the ordinary man benefitted from the government of Nigeria and that has been taken away from the masses. The removal of fuel subsidy has brought enormous hardship on the poor masses who are feeling the weight of the bad economy.

Recent events around the refining of petroleum products with the newly constructed Dangote refinery and the dishonesty of the federal government have laid bare for the world to see that Nigeria is on a tightrope. It is safe to say now that Nigeria as a country is on borrowed times and only a small trigger can set the whole house on fire.

Whilst many are reeling in the hardship that buying fuel for over ₦1,000 has brought, the forecast is that the pump price is heading to around ₦2,500 shortly. I do not see how this can be sustained in the long run considering that fuel was sold for around ₦135/litre a little over a year ago.

This brings me to the conclusion that the Nigerian government has set in motion the stage for the disintegration of Nigeria without realising it and that is a blessing for advocates of Yoruba nation. There is no way Nigeria can survive the current harsh economic climatic conditions it finds itself.

Therefore, it is time for us Yoruba nation advocates to begin to prepare the grounds for our new independent Yoruba nation. We need not delay our preparation for Yoruba nation as the situation may overtake us if we do not prepare for the eventual fall of Nigeria.

When Yugoslavia was in the same position as Nigeria today, the peoples of Slovenia and Croatia did not wait for Yugoslavia to ask them to get ready for dissolution before they started preparing for their exit. As a matter of fact, Slovenia was so prepared that they knew what currency they would spend in their new country.

We the advocates of Yoruba nation must begin to rally the support of our people both at home and in the diaspora. We must encourage those at home to save their monies in currencies that are more stable than the naira before our Yoruba nation is established so that they don’t lose their hard-earned money to a declining naira.

The decimation of the naira which has happened as a result of bad policies by the government of Nigeria will be the last straw that breaks Nigeria’s back. Even international observers and foreign countries know that there is no way out for Nigeria. That is why China which has a lot of stakes in Nigeria is trying to secure its huge loan to Nigeria through assets. Just like we’ve witnessed in the Zhongshan Fucheng row with the Nigerian government recently.

The Yoruba nation self-determination leadership has an opportunity now to fast-track its preparation for an independent Yoruba nation. We need to highlight the benefits of an independent Yoruba nation to our theming population. This will ensure that they are better prepared when the new nation arrives.

Our people should begin to prepare for a glorious future outside Nigeria. We can only achieve that when we are self-governing. We have seen how Nigeria has dealt with us as Yoruba people over the last century. We therefore need now to begin in earnest the preparation of steps toward achieving our new nation and I hope the dissolution of Nigeria doesn’t catch us unawares.

By Kayode Emola

This week a friend of mine reached out to me to help him with small money for food. He said he hadn’t eaten since morning and needed me to help him with ₦1,000 or ₦2,000. At first, I wanted to ignore the message as I was swamped when the message popped up on my phone. Moved with compassion, I said to quickly send this person the money who was hungry.

Firstly, all of my bank accounts in Nigeria are either dormant or I haven’t got access to them anymore so I decided to transfer it directly from the UK pounds account into his Nigeria naira account via an app. What struck me was when I typed in £1, the exchange rate was a shocking ₦2,100. To put it in perspective, when I first moved to the UK in 2012 about 12 years ago, the exchange rate was around £1 to ₦185 and the minimum wage in the UK was £6.19, and in Nigeria was ₦18,000

Today, the minimum wage in the UK is £11.44 and the government of Nigeria is finding it hard to pay workers ₦70,000 just recently agreed with the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC). Whilst the minimum wage is not more of an issue for me, my major concern is the standard of living of my people living in Nigeria.

Many people say the Nigerian government has weaponised poverty against the people but I beg to differ in that our people have accepted to be punished by those they put their trust in. Every successive government in Nigeria knows that the people will not do anything even if they are being led to the slaughter.

Nigerians are now so used to poverty that trying to convince them there is a better way seems to be falling on deaf ears. Former governor of Rivers State Rotimi Amaechi said he has stopped pitying Nigerians because even when you stir them up to fight their oppressors, they would rather fight you. He said the politicians are not many compared to the masses of our people who are living in abject poverty and the day we decide to stand up, the politicians will begin to do the right thing.

So, as it is, we the Yoruba people have accepted this life of pain that was once associated only with the Northern parts of Nigeria. We have become people who can’t send our children to school, or hospitals or even pay for everyday essentials because the economy has tanked. Yet, we are happy to keep quiet and suck it up.

Some may even ask, if we want to resist this oppressive rule, how do we begin to fight these so-called powerful politicians holding the economy to ransom. The answer is very simple, in that to solve any problem we need to understand what caused the problem in the first place. Nigeria as a country today wasn’t built as a country to unify a people. It was built as a trading post to ferry out goods for the pleasure of the Western world and their own advancement.

Therefore, any attempt to make a market hub into a home will definitely not end up well for those who inhabit it. Imagine trying to lay your bed in the market square and hoping to get a beautiful rest, I just don’t see how that will be possible. Britain who amalgamated Nigeria knows too well that Nigeria cannot function as a country, seeing that they have first-hand experience of the so many wars in Europe due to forceful amalgamation. Examples are Sweden/Norway/Denmark and Czechoslovakia just to mention a few.

However, when we try to explain to our people that every nationality should go their separate ways, our people often think it is because we don’t love Nigeria. On the contrary, it is because we love Nigeria and its people we are asking for separation. If we don’t love Nigeria, we will keep quiet like the millions of people suffering yet smiling.

Nigeria has gone beyond repair and anyone still praying to God for Nigeria is living in fool’s paradise. There is no remedy for this present Nigeria than total dissolution and the leaders know it. So long as our people are comfortable with their oppressors, the situation will only get worse.

Logic will suggest that when someone is pushed to the wall, they will be forced to react. Personally, I don’t think my Yoruba people or any other ethnic nationality in Nigeria will be forced into a corner. I guess they will continue to look for a new corner to hide, enduring the pain until life is no longer liveable for them.

We need to understand as Yoruba that we can do better than this. There is a better way to manage our economy than how Nigeria is run today. Our people need to understand that Nigeria has nothing to offer us, and we need to call it a day as quickly as possible.

The earlier we gain our independent Yoruba nation, the better our chances of experiencing a better life and passing on something to the next generation. The current political class only thinks of themselves and their cronies in present-day Nigeria. Until we stand up to them and demand what truly belongs to us, they are not ready to let go.

It is therefore, imperative that the tens of millions of our people living below the poverty are mobilised to demand their rights. If not, the near future looks bleak and the future of those coming behind is not guaranteed. I wish and hope that our people will do the needful and stand up to these political bullies holding our independent Yoruba nation to ransom in the name of their own personal gain.