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.

By Kayode Emola

When Voice of Emancipation started in May 2021, little did I know it would become many Yoruba people’s favourite weekly column. Today, it has surpassed every expectation and continues to thrive beyond our Yoruba circle of self-determination community. One would imagine what stemmed from a casual discussion with the big boss himself Bob D (Chief Dele Momodu) about how Yoruba can leave Nigeria without bloodshed leading to a weekly column. I wanted a platform to propagate our self-determination message to millions of our people on a regular basis and “The Boss Newspaper” came in handy providing for us a platform to share our struggles, message and experiences.

When I asked Bob D about how we can use the media to reach out to our people, his remarks were very encouraging, and his platform was readily available. In his own word, he said “in that case, speak with my editor and he will arrange something for you. That was it, without charging us a penny, Bob D gave us his platform to send out our message to the public. This week, that journey has clocked 5 years and still going strong.

I remember that first meeting with the editor Eric, who himself is a seasoned journalist with lots of experience and many years in the business. Eric had worked for several media houses in Nigeria before joining “The Boss Newspaper” and I remember telling him, I had never written for a newspaper before and had no experience whatsoever or what I was supposed to be doing. Together, Eric and I came up with the theme, “Voice of Emancipation” after some brainstorming session as I was wanting to highlight the continued suffering of the black/brown person on the face of the earth dating back to 1526 when slavery officially started on a mass scale on the African continent.

For 500 years, the average African has been subjected to poverty, pain and suffering with no way of escape. We are looked down upon anywhere in the world despite our enormous contribution to humanity. Our people were plundered in the past, taken as slavery to mostly South and North America and once that period ended, our land was subjected to colonialisation in the name of European protection. One which we have not recovered from and may not fully recover due to the level of European oppressive structures that was left behind.

Many of the people we now share geographical boundaries with because of the European colonisation of Africa are not our kith and kin, thereby causing so many problems for Africa nations. Even in the Holy Bible which the colonial masters claimed they were relying upon to bring civilisation to Africa stated emphatically that God separated the people of Babel by their languages.

However, these Europeans in their own wisdom and foolishness thought it wise to merge people of different languages and cultures together and to impose on the local population their own lingua franca as the means of communication. One of the primary causes of many conflicts across Africa today, and especially in Nigeria where terrorism has now reached a global crescendo.

When in 2023, a Yoruba man in the person of Bola Tinubu became the President of Nigeria, there was the thought of remodelling the column by my editor Eric. However, I knew that “Voice of Emancipation” is bigger than the political ambition of one man. Considering that hundreds of millions of people if not nearly billions of Africans are trapped in these European colonial plantations called countries in Africa and are still looking for a way of escape in the contraption, they now find themselves.

Therefore, the escape from this perpetual slavery that is forcing millions of our African youths into dangerous journeys through the Sahara Desert for a better life in Europe needs to be rooted in the constant reminder of the plight of the African person. As many of our young people now see Africa as a death trap which has nothing to offer them despite all the natural resources and beautiful climatic conditions it possesses. So, I do hope and pray that this heavy yoke on the African continent will be broken by our generation, and our people can experience real emancipation in this world.

Before I sign off for today, I want to use this opportunity to personally thank everyone who has made this journey possible and those who are still working in the background week in week out. My precious wife, Bethan, who scrutinises many of the sentences in these weekly articles to make sure it is factually correct and my wonderful editor Eric who is always patient even when my article gets to his desk very late. I do hope that the celebration will be worthwhile later in the year.

I would also like to thank you the wonderful readers of Voice of Emancipation for your comments, encouragements and support throughout this journey. I can assure you that as long as God gives me the strength, I will continue to fight on the side of the oppressed peoples of Africa, and I thank God for giving me the opportunity to do so.