By Kayode Emola

Late Friday afternoon, news began to filter on the internet about the rescue of school children and their teachers who were kidnapped at the Orire Local Government in Oyo State on 15 May 2026. Many had given up hope on their recovery from the dungeon, let alone a complete rescue of those who hadn’t already died in the jungle.

I haven’t been kidnapped before or had family members experience such a fate, and I can’t begin to imagine how they or their families must have felt these last few weeks. Knowing what happened to the Chibok girls who were kidnapped in 2014, most would have resigned their fate to the worst possible outcome. Especially, that many Chibok girls are still at large to date as we speak.

As fate would have it, they were released from their captors, who, according to rumours, had suffered casualties in the hands of the security forces during the rescue mission. Seeing the shenanigans of the Oyo State government and the Nigerian security forces, intelligent people would have observed that something about this kidnap and rescue mission was fishy. Not only did the military or the police not give a press conference about the whole process, but the news of their success had been left entirely to the media in rather unusual fashion.

No sooner had many volunteer hunters and pro-Yoruba militia offered to help rescue the victims than the Oyo State Governor himself came out publicly to reject the offer. One would have thought he had a better solution to rescue the victims, other than the usual we are doing everything within our powers to bring the victims back home.

The Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, in a complete dig on Chief Sunday Adeyemo (aka Igboho Oosa), stated that he, the Governor, will deal decisively with Chief Adeyemo if he attempts to rescue the victims. Without providing any running commentary to reassure the victims and their families on the rescue efforts, making the whole kidnapping issue look like a movie set-up from the beginning.

If not, how were the terrorists able to capture over fifty-five people in a school and remain in Oyo State forests for over fifty-five days without any confrontation? If we continue to let these terrorists run amok on Yoruba soil, are we not setting a dangerous precedent for other maligned groups to do the same again? Are there no police or military helicopters that could mount proper surveillance as to the movement of these terrorists?

After all, they wouldn’t have stayed in one location for fear of being hunted down. Even if there are no military or police helicopters, could the Oyo State Government not have acquired drones that could scope out the forests for camps and possible movement of people, despite the billions of naira they receive as security allowance?

My guess is that this whole show is being put on by some powerful people in government to make the people second-guess their safety and security, whilst the politicians carry out their devious election scheme. After all, elections are just a few months away, and all the politicians care about are their next political positions and appointments rather than the welfare and security of the people.

The whole rescue mission of the Oyo victims leaves more questions than answers, but we can still bask in the euphoria that the victims have been rescued, nonetheless. Their friends and families can now have some peace and closure on this matter, whilst the victims themselves recover from the whole ordeal.

This type of incident should not have happened in the first place if we, the Yoruba, were not part of the failed project called the Nigeria project. It is a reminder that until and unless we get our independent sovereign Yoruba nation, we will continue to experience harsh realities like the kidnapping of those innocent victims.

By Kayode Emola

Governance of any people group is supposed to be by consent of the people; that is why even in a monarchical system of government, the King, with all their ultimate power, still consults with the people for their opinion. However, in Nigeria, governance seems more like by default of the presidency; as if it holds the absolute authority to decide what is good and bad for the people.

Nigeria, a creation of the British government in the twentieth century, feels now as though it has been reshaped by some unknown hands, far beyond what an ordinary man can decipher. For a starter, Nigeria was governed for most of the twentieth century by brute force, both by the colonial masters and then by the men in army uniform.

That century of terror has shaped Nigeria and Nigerians into obedient servants who will do anything to survive at the hands of their oppressors. For instance, apart from the 1963 constitution, Nigerians themselves have not been allowed to decide their own fate constitutionally. We are constantly being told how we must live and who we must live with. Worst of them all is the 1999 constitution, which is an aberration which should not be tolerated by any people group, yet over 200 million people suck up to it and do as they’re told.

There seems to be another twist to the continuous deprivation of liberty of the people to decide their own future and dignity. Many proponents of the restructuring of Nigeria will hail President Tinubu’s 2026 Six-Geopolitical-Zonal-Bill as the panacea for a New Nigeria. However, what they fail to realise is that a house that is built on lies can never stand the test of time.

If, truly, Nigeria is to be restructured along ethnic lines, then there needs to be a genuine Sovereign National Conference to discuss our living together as a multi-national entity. One that can guarantee the sovereignty of the people to determine their own future should the relationship go south.

By merely cooking up a bill in the National Assembly to declare Nigeria a six-geopolitical entity with a four-tier governance system seems a little excessive. One that is bound to waste valuable resources without real tangible benefits for the ordinary people.

The new structure, instead of addressing the marginalisation each region has been experiencing, will further put a great divide among the ethnic nationalities. There is no real foundation for the restructured unit order than creating a more complicated system of government, one that is bound to erode trust.

By passing this bill into law, the presidency is vesting the powers of the six geopolitical zones in the current State Governors, who shall take it in turns as Chairmen/Chairwomen. We all know that the track records of our State Governors are nothing to write home about. Besides, there will be a conflict of interest when a Governor who is supposed to be administering resources of his/her state is also disbursing funds for the regional government.

It may seem as if the six geopolitical zonal arrangement is the glue that finally binds Nigeria together, but it is the ultimate doom for the “One-Nigeria” project. If Nigeria is to overcome the challenges it faced in the twentieth century, then it needs to be honest with itself in the direction it wants to take in the twenty-first century.

Politicians and their cronies cannot continue to behave as if they own Nigeria, or as if the opinions of the people don’t matter. Nigeria don’t need a four-tier governance structure, and the Yoruba land doesn’t need the current Governors to run the affairs of the proposed zonal government.

If the Federal government were sincere about the geopolitical zonal arrangements, it should have allowed each zone to determine how they want to be structured and administered. Yorubaland can deal with one administrative head with numerous provinces administering their own sub-groups, thereby driving development down to their people.

I don’t see what a sitting Governor can achieve within one year of being Chairperson of a geopolitical zone. That time alone is not even enough to do something tangible, let alone build any legacy project or infrastructure for the benefit of the people.

Whilst the six geopolitical zones are a step in the right direction for the dissolution of the “One Nigeria” project, we Yoruba must seize the opportunity that comes with reclaiming our sovereignty. We must ensure that we build a solid security architecture that can withstand any military takeover of Nigeria, so that we don’t return to the mistakes of 1966.

Yoruba must now insist on using the nomenclature “Yoruba” to identify our geopolitical zone rather than southwest Nigeria. We must begin to build our Yoruba brand gradually from defence to sports and every other facet of development. We must not get entangled with the affairs of “One Nigeria”, as we know the Nigeria of today is nothing but disaster for the Yoruba people, one which we must avoid like a plague.

By Kayode Emola

With the group stages of the 2026 FIFA World Cup completed, teams that have qualified for the knockout phase are hoping to progress their chances further. However, teams that have already crashed out can still go home knowing that they gave their best, but it just wasn’t good enough. In all, it is the spirit of sportsmanship that really counts.

Prior to the commencement of the FIFA 2026 World Cup, there were concerns about the Iranian Football National Team. With the ongoing war between the USA and Iran, many feared that the Iranian team might not be allowed entry into the US to participate in the tournament. At one point, the Italian National Team was asked if they could take up the Iranian slot but respectfully declined.

In the end, the Iranian national team were allowed entry to the US to participate in the tournament. I cannot begin to imagine what the emotions going through their minds would have been during that period. Could they have been turned back, and denied entry, after all a Ghanaian footballer Thomas Partey was denied entry to Canada causing him to miss Ghana’s first match against Panama in Toronto.

For many football loving nations, the FIFA World Cup is the height of any footballing activity in the world, one which they cannot afford to miss. When their country is participating, they want to cheer them on to victory whether on the pitch or on their screen at home or in a bar. It shows the great power this sport has globally to unite people of different races.

Had the Iranian National Team being denied access to the World Cup this year, it would have set a very bad precedent. One which the world may not eventually recover from. The good thing is they were allowed to participate which in all sense shows that there is still a tiny hope for mankind to work together in very difficult circumstances.

I know Nigeria did not qualify for the FIFA World Cup 2026, I couldn’t care less if they did or not. My only hope is that one day, the Yoruba nation will have our autonomy, and we can have our Yoruba sportsmen and women representing us in the international stage. In that day, it would not just be a sight to behold but an experience to revel in.

As it stands, many countries are already at odds with other nation’s football team for their crash at this world cup. I want us to know that football is just a sport and in the spirit of sportsmanship, there is always a winner and loser. The winner needs to always be magnanimous in victory and the loser gracious to accept their defeat.

I have had my fair share of heart breaks in football when my team lost to a rival football team. The heartache is very agonising and unbearable; however, I soon get past that phase. Equally, I have had times when my team was victorious, and the joy is overwhelming that it can cause most ailments to vanish instantly. That is such power that football posses and I believe many other sports gives the same experience.

The fact that national teams can be barred from sporting events because of politics is very concerning though. Sports should never be a tool that world leaders use as a weapon to punish young athletes who wants to showcase their talent in the international stage. It should be a tool to foster unity among nations rather than a tool to further divide. There is so much disunity in the world presently, and football like many other sports might just a force for good that can bring our world and people closer together.