By Kayode Emola

Many people living in Nigeria are unaware of the deep-rooted trouble Nigeria is in and therefore often deceive themselves that Nigeria will one day live up to its expectations. The problems bedevilling the country is so great that it will take a life time or two to even scratch the surface if everyone is ready to work for it.

Recently, former President Olusegun Obasanjo lamented the country’s dire state and stated that President Tinubu had no plans before taking office. The truth is that since the so-called independence of Nigeria in 1960, no head of state that has ruled Nigeria ever had a plan for Nigeria before it took office. They have all taken office for the benefit of themselves, their families, and their cronies.

Nigerians are the eventual losers as they wait for a government that is coming to save them when the reality is that there is no hope in sight. We recall that Tinubu stated at the start of his presidency that Buhari had wrecked the country and that is why subsidy must be removed. Today, that revenue generated from subsidy is been squandered by the politicians while poverty goes through the roof.

The Nigerian government wants everyone to believe that inflation in the country is around 30% where in actual fact inflation is well over 500%. In 2021 when I last visited Nigeria, a loaf of bread was selling for ₦350 but today in just 3 years, that same bread is selling for over ₦4,000 in some high-end supermarket. This is just a tip of the ice-berg as the country is starring at a big trouble down the line.

It has now gotten to the stage where working people can no longer afford the basics of life. In a recent video, we saw a journalist who broke down live on camera and walked out of the studio because she could no longer afford to buy petrol to transport herself to work. We may not know the extent to which people are suffering but if Tinubu’s claim of inheriting a bad government is true, his current leadership approach is not a sign of a country that will recover anytime soon.

Even the Tinubu loyalists are now crying foul as though we did not warn them of what is to come. Asari Dokubo in a recent video was lamenting over the shame and humiliation he has had to endure in supporting Tinubu for the presidency. In his words, trust is now a very expensive commodity and it will be difficult for him to trust any Yoruba person.

It should teach us all a lesson especially we the Yoruba people that when one of our own fails the nation, we will all be held accountable even when we are not direct beneficiary of their misrule. Therefore, it is best we fail forward in our own independent Yoruba nation rather than struggle to make Nigeria a great country.

Nigeria was doomed to fail before it was even created, therefore no amount of patching can make it stand tall without wobbling. Every major nationality in Nigeria sees us Yoruba as their stumbling block to greatness. Truth be told, I share in their sentiments because if our traditional rulers and our Yoruba citizens stand up today, the whole Nigeria will shiver. Yet we stand aside when we truly see that the house has crumbled.

Instead of standing up, many of our people who themselves are riddled in poverty are the greatest defenders of the politicians who are stealing their commonwealth. It is a shame that our Yoruba people who pride themselves as the most educated people in Nigeria cannot read between the lines to see that Nigeria can never be great, therefore it is time to exit.

I call on the true patriots of Yorubaland to rise up now in unity and fight to defend their lands from the marauders who have turned our farmlands and homes into a killing field. I call on our Yoruba youths to stand up for their rights and to demand their own freedom as our political leaders are hell bent in selling us into perpetual slavery.

Our generation must be ready to pay a huge sacrifice to save the coming generation. We must be ready to stand up to the bullies who are stealing the little we have to cater for they and their family needs.

We must start now to ask the important questions of where we are going as a people and how we can get there. We know Nigeria as a country is heading nowhere and Yoruba nation is our only key if we want to build a lasting legacy for the children yet unborn; if not our Yoruba nation may perish in Nigeria.

Let us be determined to build a strong future for the coming generation without being apologetic. It is our duty to save our Yorubaland from the scavengers who are determined to ruin and to tell them enough is enough.

By Kayode Emola

In our chaotic world, it is very easy to forget one another due to the constant demands of the precious little time we have. It was in the year 2020 that I first encountered our illustrious Yoruba daughter. It was a meeting organised by the then Yoruba World Congress UK with a group of professionals that eventually became the Yoruba Global Directorate.

Barrister Janet was among the 4 delegates from the Global Directorate who met with our team of 5 from YWC UK. Although that meeting didn’t go down well, Barrister Janet and Barr Taiwo Odumosu requested a follow-up meeting, which has never happened until this day.

Barrister Janet and her team went on to form what we now know as the Yoruba Global Directorate and YWC UK is nothing to write home about. However, one of the fascinating things about Barrister Janet is that she is not a quitter. She is a fighter and that is what she did until she took her final breath on Saturday 14, September 2024.

When the meeting between her team and the YWC UK didn’t go as planned, she didn’t buckle. She and her team went ahead to create the Global Directorate and she was very prominent in their Saturday’s weekly meeting until she eventually left the Global Directorate.

After leaving the Global Directorate, she formed many small groups that accomplished unspeakable feats. Prominent of them was the Interfaith group that brought three major religious groups (Christians, Muslims, and Yoruba Traditional Worshipers) under one roof to pray. This has never happened in the history of our people as Yoruba, even though we are well known for our religious tolerance.

This interfaith group which still thrives till date was able to achieve a lot together. The group was established in 2021 after Chief Sunday Igboho was arrested in Cotonou. The group met constantly to pray for God’s intervention and Chief Igboho’s early release. God attended to the prayers of the Yoruba people by ensuring that Chief Igboho was released from prison into house arrest before his eventual release.

Barrister Janet didn’t rest on her laurels after Chief Igboho was released from prison. She went on to successfully create her oko etile farming project which has revolutionise home farming in our Yoruba communities. She pursued this vision passionately and will constantly share the successes of the farming project on social media encouraging others to join the train.

Aside from being a Barrister of law, she completed a nursing degree back home in Nigeria and in the United Kingdom before relocating to the USA. Her background in the health sector is demonstrated in her charitable works as she never misses an opportunity to bless the lives of those that she encounters.

Barrister Janet is an embodiment of compassion and she radiates the light of God that shines brightly for all to see. Her departure from this life will be sorely missed not just by her immediate family but by the entire Yoruba nation struggle. Barrister Janet still has a lot to offer our Yoruba nation struggle but her passing has made those contributions fade away into the skies.

By the time we come to raise our Yoruba flag to which Barrister Janet composed a very beautiful song, I hope and pray that she and many others that has passed away will not be forgotten. The labour of our heroin Janet will never be in vain and her contributions to our struggle will continue to be in our hearts.

For those of us who are still around, this is the time to start making a positive impact and more so on our Yoruba nation’s struggle. The time is now to liberate our people from the bondage called Nigeria. Let us all join our strength together for this noble cause so that we can bring about the positive change we want to see in our society.

By Kayode Emola

When the quest for an independent Yoruba nation took off fully in 2018, the focus was to begin a grassroots mass awareness and mobilisation. In early 2020 the decision was taken to stage a worldwide protest across the globe on 1st October which was supposed to be an Independence Day celebration for Nigeria. Every Yoruba son and daughter at home and in the diaspora was expected to come out for that protest to drive home our demand for a sovereign Yoruba nation.

Unfortunately, Covid-19 happened and this dream was scuppered as many nations were on lockdown due to the spread of the infectious disease. However, Yoruba people in the UK and some other European countries like Italy, Germany, and France were not deterred and went ahead with the protest rally. This made our demand resonate with the international community about the plight of our people back home under the oppressive Nigerian regime.

Whilst many of our brethren at home did not turn up for the rally, one particular person of note who held a mini rally around his Ibadan residence was Chief Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho. This mini-rally encouraged many of our people back home to identify with our struggle and gave the Buhari government a run for its money.

Today, the UK team of the self-determination struggle has rekindled the flame of the international campaign with the support and presence of Chief Sunday Adeyemo live in London. The presence of Sunday Igboho will no doubt encourage a lot of our people whose hearts are dampened regarding self-determination and the continued deterioration of the Nigerian economy.

It is now expected that our people all over the world will see this rekindled flame of our campaign as the dawn of a new era. We need to use this opportunity of the Yoruba nation campaign in London to rally our people at home, in other countries in Europe, and on other continents to begin to organise massive campaign rallies wherever they are in the world.

They need to take our message of Yoruba exit under the Nigerian government control to the leaders of their countries of residence just like the UK delegation did. The UK delegation in the company of Chief Sunday Adeyemo was able to deliver the self-determination struggle letter of exit to the British Prime Minister Sir Keir Stammer in his official residence at 10 Downing Street.

This is a remarkable step in the right direction for our self-determination struggle as we engage positively with friendly nations in the world. We need to mobilise as many leaders as possible around the world that would be sympathetic to the plight of our people in Nigeria to act to pressure the Nigerian government on our quest for self-determination.

With the dwindling economic fortunes of Nigeria, it is best that we get as much support possible, that we can receive around the world during this stage of our struggle. This will place us in a better position to achieve greatness within the shortest possible time as many countries will be open to doing business with our new independent Yoruba nation.

I urge our Yoruba people especially those at home in Yorubaland to see the UK rally as an opportunity to begin a wholesale campaign at home for our sovereign nation. We need to get our traditional rulers and those occupying political positions to understand that the wish of the majority of our people now is nothing other than a peaceful separation from Nigeria.

It will be better if the Nigerian government will do the right thing while there is still time. Failure to act now when there is still the opportunity for dialogue may later be regretted if Nigeria were to descend into chaos and anarchy. I hope and pray that we will not be dragged into that situation by circumstances that are beyond our control, especially with the ongoing militancy in the southeastern region of Nigeria.