Voice of Emancipation: What About the Coup Plot?

By Kayode Emola

It is more than two weeks since the rumour of a coup plot resurfaced in Nigeria. It is the first attempt at a coup since the beginning of the fourth republic in 1999. For all intents and purposes, I believe it marks the start of the end of Nigeria, considering Nigeria’s history and the prevalence of military coups.

However, the most surprising of it all is that the presidency is in denial of the coup plot or even admitting it to the Nigerian populace. Yet, the president is making dramatic changes that suggest he is very unsettled by this development.

If anything at all, I believe what we witnessed was just a hoax and the real coup is about to happen soon. There is no smokescreen without a fire, and the president had better watch his back, especially with his recent reshuffling of his service chiefs.

If anyone around the president gives him advice, they should know that he just made the wrong moves. If not, why will the military intelligence where his National Security Adviser (NSA) is involved in a coup, and to date, the Security Adviser is still holding his position. It beats my imagination that this president cannot wake up and smell the coffee.

Of the said 16 military officers who were implicated in the phantom coup, the majority were from the north, and many of them are Fulani. The National Security Adviser is also a Fulani man, and it is the north that is hellbent on throwing the country into confusion, as they are definitely unhappy with Tinubu’s presidency and rightly so.

Maybe President Tinubu forgot what happened in July 1966, when Gowon was appointed as Aguiyi-Ironsi’s Chief of Army Staff (COAS) to placate the north. Ironsi, by appointing Gowon, did not know that he is digging his own grave, as Gowon would later mastermind the coup of 1966, where he eventually succeeded Ironsi.

If there is going to be a coup plot in Nigeria today, the first person who will be in the know will be the National Security Adviser. If President Bola Tinubu thinks that the one person he can trust to protect him is his Fulani friend, then he is, of all presidents, the most pitiable.

I would love to say Nigeria is dying, but the truth is that Nigeria died a long time ago, and the present rulers are doing a good job in preserving a carcass and calling it a nation. Everything Tinubu protested before he became president, he is doing ten times over, and yet he doesn’t bat an eyelid.

If, after criticizing the Federal Government when he was in the opposition, he is doing worse than the government he criticized. It shows that Nigeria has no hope of redemption, and the politicians are just stringing the people along.

If the Yoruba people know what is good for them, they should start preparing for their exit from this ungodly union called Nigeria. We should not put our hope on one of us being the president of Nigeria.

We should ensure that Tinubu is the last president of Nigeria. This is because, whether we like it or not, after Tinubu’s presidency, the Fulani will take over the presidency, and by that time, they will come with vengeance for us, Yoruba.

Whether Tinubu leaves the presidency by the ballot or a coup, Yorubaland will never see the development it truly deserves among the comity of nations. Our people are scattered abroad like sheep without a shepherd. Many are in unspeakable trauma abroad with no home or hope to return to.

If Tinubu’s presidency is not bringing any true meaningful development to our people, then I don’t think we should expect any miracle when a Fulani man becomes president of Nigeria. I cannot emphasise enough the great danger that awaits the Yoruba people if we fail to act now while there is still an opportunity.

Therefore, the time is now to begin our exit preparations from this contraption, Nigeria. There is nothing to keep us in Nigeria, and I cannot believe that we will miss Nigeria after our liberation. So the choice is in our hands to either leave Nigeria now or become a vassal state.