The killing of Miss Jumoke Oyeleke during the Yoruba Nation rally in Lagos last Saturday is now a subject of a coroner’s inquest but the political impacts of the most populous state joining in the struggle which witnessed everyday people of the state coming out to confront the police are still being dissected by analysts and watchers of unfolding events as the agitation for a free Yoruba republic gathers momentum.
In a report by TribuneOnline, before the rally, the popular saying among the core indigenes of the state was “gedegbe l’Eko wa”, meaning Lagos isn’t beholden to anyone, an insinuation that the state wasn’t originally part of the old West and would not join the agitation for a separate Yoruba nation to play second fiddle to any state again due to the thinking that the state might still not be recognised as the political and administrative capital of the new Yoruba republic despite its number and being the economic powerhouse of not only the region but the country as a whole.
But all that may be changing now, considering that the Lagos aborigines are not only minority in number but their collective voice is being drowned by the majority of the residents of the state who are now aligning with the brains behind the agitation for Yoruba independence.
Professor Olufemi Olufunmilade, founding chieftain of Yoruba World Congress and the group’s adviser on strategy, is one of the brains behind Ilana Omo Oodua (IOO) that executed the Lagos rally despite massive security mobilization to prevent it. The respected academic’s hitherto long-standing relationship with President Muhammadu Buhari before he became president is also a matter of public knowledge. One incident that has remained unforgettable in his association with the Nigerian leader was in 2014 when the All Progressives Congress (APC) was about to be born.
It was learnt that when now-defunct legacy parties were asked to submit names of members for inclusion in the interim national executive of the newly-formed party, every other merging party like the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and a faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) tried to exhibit national spread in their submissions.
But the CPC’s list, which Buhari had the prerogative of compiling, was the only one that was allegedly ultra-skewed. Out of nine slots, Buhari reportedly gave eight to the North, conceding only the post of National Women Leader to the South, which he also allegedly single handedly gave to his long-time associate, Sharon Ikeazor, the current Minister of State for Environment.
Typically of someone with activism background, the academic was said to have politely protested to the General that things should not be done that way in a supposed multi-ethnic political party. A shocked and embarrassed Buhari was said to have tersely replied him, “I will look into it Doctor,” although nothing reportedly changed in the equation.
When the president began what has now been alleged as a pattern in his major appointments, the academic was said to have jolted him again with a warning that brought an unpleasant memory from his first term when the president granted him audience at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. Now the former friend of the president is a leading light in challenging the status quo which President Buhari seems intent on preserving at all costs.
In the aftermath of the Lagos protest, Professor Olufunmilade spoke with SUBAIR MOHAMMED on the next stage of the Yoruba struggle and what the people should look forward to.
One of the reasons given by the agitators for an independent Yoruba nation is insecurity but some people have argued that the state of security is exaggerated. What is your thought on this?
Some people are of the opinion that those of us agitating for Yoruba nation are making too much noise about it. They said the picture of insecurity in Yorubaland we painted is exaggerated and that the handling of the situation is biased.
The way the people defied the government that said they should not embark on peaceful protest on July 3 in Lagos State has shown that Lagosians are truly ready to pay the price for a Yoruba nation. A lot of them were arrested and we had a casualty. In an unfortunate situation, a lady was hit by police stray bullet while many people were beaten. Women, youths and the elderly were part of the protest. The killings and kidnapping of our people by armed Fulani herdsmen are true and the biased approach of the government is also true. Those who are up there in government know what they are doing. Let me give you an open example. When a notorious killer of our people in Ibarapa, Oyo State, Iskilu Wakili, was arrested by members of the OPC and handed over to the police, the police, rather than investigating the matter and, if found culpable, make him face the wrath of the law, released him. Instead, the police arrested the people that apprehended Wakili. They were charged to court but the court found the charges proffered against them frivolous and they were discharged. How do you expect us to feel about this as Yoruba people?
There are three major food baskets in Yorubaland where foodstuffs are produced in large scale. These are Yewa, Oke-Ogun and Ibarapa. Unfortunately, these are the areas that are specially targeted by these marauding armed Fulani under the guise of grazing cattle. As we speak, over 5,000 farmers in Yewa are taking refuge in neighbouring Benin Republic while countless others have abandoned their families and communities after their houses were razed. Over 55 people were killed. For fear of being killed, our farmers can’t work on their farms during this rainy season and when the season ends and it is time to harvest, we will feel the bite of the negative impact of what the Fulani herders have done to us.
Are these reasons enough to call for secession. Can’t the agitators explore other options in addressing the issues you highlighted?
The issue is this: Yoruba people have realised that they do not enjoy equal protection under the law. We did just wake up one day to say we want to secede or break away from Nigeria. The questions are: are we protected in Nigeria where we live? Are we in a Nigeria where we enjoy equal rights under the law? Or are we in a country where the instrument of state is being used as an ethnic apparatus to the disadvantage of other ethnic groups? When you feel that you are not protected and not given the right kind of treatment, as human beings, you are free to opt out. After all, whatever we are doing to exit Nigeria is within the ambit of international law. There is a whole document on the rights of the indigenous people by the United Nations, and we are going about it peacefully. Nobody has killed anyone. Yoruba people are peace loving. We are not killers, even the Sunday Igboho they are demonising has not killed anyone. They should show to us those he has killed.
His action in Igangan was propelled by the death of his uncle, Dr [Fatai] Aborode. He was killed by Fulani abductors after they had collected ransom. The son of the king of Igangan was also kidnapped by these Fulani abductors. This was what spurred Sunday Igboho, because they say blood is thicker than water.
He went to meet with the Seriki Fulani asking him to produce the killers of his uncle and his people. He gave them an ultimatum that if they didn’t produce the killer within seven days, they should be prepared to leave because they had constituted security risk and nuisance to the community. People are dissatisfied and unhappy. They want to have a country where they will be able to sleep with their two eyes closed.
Considering the extent of disunity among different factions of Yoruba people, do you think the people are ripe for an independent nation?
To those that say Yoruba are disunited and not ready for an independent state, let me respond with a dictum of a Greek philosopher, Aristotle, who said that if in a community of five people, everybody thinks alike, then you have an indication that none of them is capable of thinking at all.
Unity is not the same thing as uniformity. There can be differences of opinion and all that but that does not suggest disunity. Those who say Yoruba cannot be united are wrong. Pa Obafemi Awolowo became the greatest rallying point for the Yoruba race since Oduduwa.
There were those that disagreed with him on political grounds but that is just human. It is not sufficient to say that we don’t speak in one voice until when Yoruba people move like sheep in one direction without anybody straying. That means you are thinking of a Yoruba nation where people operate like robots. That would be very wrong.
Pa Awolowo had shown that Yoruba people can be united. He was an Ijebu man but nobody related with him as such. It was like a carnival when he visited any of the states in the South West. So, let nobody say Yoruba people are divided. The rally we have held, didn’t you see the mammoth crowd that turned out in Ekiti State, in Akure, in Ibadan, Osogbo, Abeokuta and even in Lagos? The reactionary forces were scared that Lagos would be overwhelmingly crowded and they tried their best to deploy security forces.
Why should anybody be afraid of a peaceful rally? That answers your question as to the popularity of the quest. It is not limited to just one part of Yorubaland; it is something that cuts across even the Diaspora. That tells you that our agitation is not a joke but there will always be a few people that will say no to the agitation for Yoruba Nation. These are the people that are eyeing political offices in 2023 and are benefitting from this current setup.
Can’t the changes the people are agitating for be achieved through the National Assembly?
If the South West governors and representatives have been alive to their responsibilities, there won’t be calls for Yoruba nation. If our governors are up to the task, would Sunday Igboho have been the person to give succour to the people in Ibarapa? What have they done about the issue of restructuring, not to talk of addressing the agitation for Oduduwa nation?
The APC has restructuring as the core element of its manifesto but has it been implemented? After dilly-dallying, a committee was setup headed by Governor Nasir El-Rufai. He travelled around the country and collated his report which is available online for everybody to see, but has the president bothered to look at it? Whereas restructuring was one major instrument we used to convince our people to vote for Buhari in 2015 that made him get the winning edge that eluded him when he contested in the past. Without our votes in Yorubaland, President Buhari wouldn’t have become the president but what do we get in return? Every National Assembly since 1999 has had a constitution reform committee and always produced reports? How many of these reports have been implemented?
For you to engage in any constitutional change, the requirement is so cumbersome that it is almost impossible unless everybody agrees to it. Apart from the two-third required at the National Assembly, two-third of the states’ assembly must also concur. This is not something that will just happen but the people have the right to self-determination within the province of international laws, some of which Nigeria is a signatory to and Nigerians are going about it peacefully.
What is expected is that the Nigerian government will be willing to dialogue. So far, the posture is somehow false. It has been you are not the representatives of the people and that what we are doing is illegal. That is where we are and we will see where it will take us. Those who feel cheated and those who feel they are being treated like second class citizens won’t fold their arms and look on because the government controls the army and the police. I don’t see the people going back because the price of liberty is usually not something you pay on a platter of gold. Some may be imprisoned. Some may be killed and some may be forced into exile. It is a route we have passed through, so it is not new.
Is there any timeline for the achievement of Yoruba nation?
Yoruba nation is already in the heart of every Yoruba person and it will be realised one day. A journey of a thousand miles starts with a step. Yoruba nation is now an ideal, so as far as we are concerned, we are not interested in anybody telling us about 2023 election or forcing us to vote. This is not a personal issue but it will be contradictory if we are saying we want a Yoruba nation and at the same time we are legitimising this contraption called Nigeria.
Is there any alternative to the agitation for Yoruba nation?
The only alternative is dialogue. Appointments are an insulting thing. What have the people that were given appointments achieved for Yoruba people? We are not moved with the idea that we would have the presidency. No. That is not going to sell among intelligent Yoruba people.
We are open to discussion. We don’t want violence. I don’t want to speculate but if President Muhammadu Buhari wants history to judge him kindly, he needs to change his style. He should know that he is not dealing with cattle. He is dealing with human beings and he needs to engage them.
What is your message to Yoruba people?
They should remain peaceful and focused. They should not allow anybody to provoke them into violence and they should remain resolute in their demands.
What is your view about SSS’ invasion of Sunday Ighoho’s house?
Those who know the law and what it says about searching and arresting a citizen have told us that the manner in which the DSS carried out the invasion was illegal, uncivilised and negated the spirits of democratic freedom. It was like an armed robbery attack in the dead of the night and lives were lost.
Was there a time the DSS invited Sunday Igboho and he refused to honour the invitation? Nobody ever said that. We just woke up to the news that his residence was invaded and people were killed and his property destroyed. For crying out loud, Igboho is a citizen of Nigeria and he is entitled to protection under the law.
The Miyetti Allah leaders that are claiming responsibility for killings, mayhem and crises and issuing threats every now and them, how many of them have been arrested? But the government can arrest and go after Sunday Igboho who only uses his mouth to demand for the rights of his people.
