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.
