By Kayode Emola
For some time now, the Yoruba nation struggle has seemed to be experiencing ups and downs. Truthfully, this should not be a surprise, as surges and setbacks are not unusual in a struggle like ours. There is no perfect off-the-shelf template, which one can deploy in their struggle for freedom. We can only keep adapting our methods to the environment in which we find ourselves at that time, and endeavour to utilise it to our advantage.
The major ingredients for the success of any group are unity and togetherness. Sadly, we have lacked these a great deal in our Yoruba struggle. Many comrades in our ranks have been agents of disunity, sowing seeds of discord in an attempt to stall our inevitable destination.
However, the dynamic is changing rapidly, and our people are beginning to see the need to work together. Even the Holy Bible says that a house that is divided against itself cannot stand, and this is why the enemy is employing this tactic to derail our goal.
Now that the liberation struggle is back on track, the importance of taking the path of unity cannot be over-emphasised. It is the foundation on which all our work must be based, otherwise, we will find ourselves back where we started, all those years ago.
Therefore, as we march on to freedom, we must remind ourselves what freedom means. The freedom that we seek is one that ensures the government works for the benefit of all citizens, and not just the few.
We must build a nation where the rights and privileges of every person are enshrined in the constitution and protected by law. A nation where everyone can take care of themselves without needing to become reliant on bribes or the indignity of becoming involuntary beggars.
The new Yoruba nation must not be allowed to degenerate into the chaos that Nigeria has become today. We must be ready to preserve our freedom from those who desire to return us to the poverty rampant across the country. We should resist anyone, whether political groups or individuals, that would seek to take us back to a culture of government that serves only the elite and their cronies.
I encourage all our Yoruba people to remove the garments of Nigeria and embrace their true identity. We must ready ourselves to push for Yoruba sovereignty with every fiber of our being. We must strive with all desire to see our freedom from slavery come quickly. And then we need to strive all the more to sanctify and preserve that freedom for the next generations to come.
