Agitation for secession is not new in the South-West geopolitical zone but the resurgence in recent times is fueling suspicion on the motive behind the agitators, Daily Trust reports.
Sunday Adeyemo Igboho known simply as Sunday Igboho in Yorubaland was the ring leader of those agitating for secession. The year 2021 was the peak of the agitation for Oduduwa Republic championed by Igboho and strongly backed by Prof. Banji Akintoye-led Omo Ilana Oodua formerly known as Yoruba World Congress (YWC).
Igboho did not only declare Oduduwa Republic, he also led the campaign for the eviction of Fulani herders in South-West states and he succeeded, especially in sending the Sarkin Fulani of Oyo State packing from his domain in Igangan along Igbo Ora in Oyo State where he lived for more than 50 years.
While Igboho’s campaign for Yoruba Nation which he christened Oduduwa Republic was roundly rejected by his people, he became a target of the Federal Government during the Muhammadu Buhari presidency.
Late governor of Ondo State, Arakunrin Rotimi Akeredolu, who was then Chairman of the South-West Governors’ Forum, did not mince words in rejecting the agitation of the proponents of Oduduwa Republic, describing their agitation as “satanic.”
Igboho was away for more than 30 months after his botched arrest by officials of the Department of State Service (DSS) ostensibly to answer questions bothering on his agitation which the government termed as “seditious.” Many analysts say if he had been arrested at that time, he would have been suffering the fate of Nnamdi Kanu, the Leader of the Independent People of Biafra (IPOB) who is also the arrowhead of the Biafra Republic.
After spending months in Benin Republic detention following his arrest on his way to Germany, Sunday Igboho returned to Nigeria in February this year.
A lot of water has passed under the bridge since his absence and quite significantly Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a foremost political leader in the South-West, has assumed the leadership position as the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Igboho therefore returned to Nigeria quietly with many people wondering what had happened to his agitation. Could it be because his kinsman is now in the saddle? Was he trying to lie low because of his experience under the Buhari presidency? Was his secession agitation propelled by the fact that a president outside his geopolitical zone was in the saddle?
Why pundits continue to ponder about the status of his agitation, the South-West geopolitical zone and the entire nation was jolted by the attempted take-over of the Oyo State House of Assembly by suspected Yoruba Nation agitators.
In a daring move, dozens of suspected agitators stormed Oyo House in a bid to hoist the flag of their new “Yoruba Nation.”
And as this was going on, video clips emerged of Ms. Modupe Abiola-Onitiri who pronounced herself as the President of the Yoruba Nation reading an address, informing the whole world of a new sovereign state known as the Democratic Republic of Yorubaland.
“As from today, we want the whole world to know that the Democratic Republic of Yoruba is a new nation, newest nation in the world, number 55th in Africa. I congratulate the indigenous people of Yoruba on this achievement because God has been very merciful with us.
“We made a declaration on Sunday November 20, 2022. We did reclamation on Sunday December 18, 2022. By the special grace of God, we made a proclamation on Friday April 12, 2024. This has become a reality and nothing can change it,” Abiola-Onitiri declared in the broadcast made in Yoruba and roughly translated by our correspondent.
Police clamp down on agitators
Following the invasion of Oyọ State House of Assembly Complex, 29 suspects are currently being held at Agodi Correctional facility. This follows their arraignment before Chief Magistrate O.O Ogunkanmi for their involvement and roles in the foiled invasion.
While Chief Magistrate Ogunkanmi adjourned the case to the 1st of August 2024 for hearing, the Oyo State Police command has assured that investigation on the sponsors and other elements of the secessionists are ongoing.
In a related development, the Oyo State government demolished a building where the Yoruba Nation agitators are alleged to be operating from. The building, located on Toye Oyesola Street in the Ibadan South West Local Government Area, was demolished on Wednesday, 17th April. The demolition exercise was confirmed by the Special Adviser to the Oyo State Governor on Security Matters, CP Fatai Owoseni (rtd.), but he directed further inquiries on the matter to the State Commissioner of Police.
Also, traditional rulers, kings, Chiefs, Baales, Mogajis, security agencies, and religious bodies in Ibadan land have jointly spoken against the secessionist movements in Ibadan land and its environs. They noted that there was no Ibadan indigene among the agitators arrested by security agencies.
Aside this, a traditional oath conducted by the Araba Awo of Ibadan land and Olu Isese of Ibadan land, Araba Awo Odegbola was taken by everybody at the meeting including the local security volunteers, which was first of its kind in the modern history of security structure of the city.
According to the oath, on no account must anybody be in position of creating or supporting any agitation, be it in contact or meeting or joining any form of agitation.
On Tuesday, members of the Oyo State Assembly called for installation of surveillance cameras around the state Secretariat including the House of Assembly and media houses.
While condemning the action of the agitators, they urged the government to engage the suspects in dialogues so as to have a better understanding of their demands.
However, the state government has condemned the activities of the agitators, saying their action is treasonable felony.
The state commissioner for information, Prince Dotun Oyelade, noted that “attempting to barge into the hallowed chambers of legislature and taking it over with an arsenal of seven pump action submachine guns, over 700 live cartridges, is clearly an act of terrorism.”
The commissioner added that sponsors of Saturday’s invasion of the governor’s office and the State House of Assembly have succeeded in leading themselves into serious trouble.
Sunday Igboho, Akintoye disown agitators
While many observers might be quick to link the agitators with Sunday Igboho and Baba Akintoye who have been the arrowheads of the Oduduwa Republic, the duo have swiftly disowned the agitators, saying they were not aware or in support of their actions.
Akintoye said: “I am not connected; I have no contact and I do not know anything about Onitiri and her group. I don’t know what they are doing.
“I learnt they are engaged in some sort of insanity in Ibadan but that is entirely they, and it has nothing to do with me or people like Chief Sunday Igboho who are working with me.
“We are the authentic Yoruba Nation Movement. We are not connected. We are the people fighting for Yoruba Nation freedom and we will win the war peacefully and in an orderly manner.”
Oyo Assembly Complex and its significance
The invasion of the Assembly complex has provoked a rash of actions not only in Oyo State but across the South-West geopolitical zone comprising other states like Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun and Ekiti. The complex was used as the Old Western Regional House of Assembly and so it was seen as an attack on the political fabric of the region. Therefore, other states quickly beefed-up security to forestall any kind of occupation in the name of Yoruba Nation agitation.
What was their motive?
The renewed agitation has triggered a poser about the motive of the renewed agitation. Who are their sponsors? These are questions that have agitated the minds of many observers. Many believe the hitherto unknown Modupe Onitiri couldn’t have done it alone. In fact, those close to Abiola had disowned her and said she was not one of the officially recognised wives of late Moshood Abiola, foremost politician and acclaimed winner of the June 12, 1993 election. Could she have made the declaration for clout?
Findings by our correspondent revealed that the security operatives have launched a manhunt for her as her whereabouts is presently unknown.
Though the Afenifere leadership is presently enmeshed in factional crisis while there is presently no rallying leader within the Yoruba ethnic nationality, attempting to take over the sacred seat of the parliament was considered as sacrilegious and an act of terrorism by all and sundry.
A spokesperson with Afenifere, Comrade Jare Ajayi, in a chat with our correspondent said the leadership of the association is not pointing accusing finger on any individual or group as the sponsor.
He said, “These people who invaded the Assembly Complex couldn’t have the bravado to do it. There must be somebody who coordinated them, put them together and provided the weapons.
“The good thing is that the security agencies are already working, and the government has taken it up. Investigation is going on. We are waiting anxiously for the outcome of the investigation.”
According to him, the action of the government is welcome as it would serve as a deterrent to anyone who might be thinking of such an action to have a rethink.
“We were disturbed by it. Those people must have been coordinated but we are happy the government is not joking on this matter. We have the confidence that the government would get to the root of the matter,” he added.
National President of the Yoruba Welfare Group, Comrade AbdulHakeem Adegoke Alawuje, said those who staged the agitation are not representing the Yorubas, they are agents of the opposition across the country.
He insisted that those arrested should be prosecuted accordingly and face the consequences of the crimes they committed without wasting time.
“They are paid by those enemies of the government to destabilise the government. They were disappointed by the way the Tinubu administration is making progress, especially on economic and security issues. If at all the government really wants to put an end to this kind of madness, they have to be punished accordingly,” he said.
But other schools of thought said the agitation might have been propelled by the agitation for restructuring and to pass a message to the president to fast-track the process of restructuring.
Political Science teacher Prof. Gbade Ojo said the renewed agitation has nothing to do with the fact that a Yoruba man is in the saddle.
He said an average Yoruba man is uncomfortable with the existing federal arrangement, so taking up arms to take over government in the name of Yoruba nation does not make sense.
According to him, the agitators had made a statement about the need for restructuring of the country. He however said the lesson of the agitation is for the government to be more committed to the project of restructuring.
“They have made a statement and the statement is that Yorubas are agitating and the issue of a Yoruba man being president is meaningless. Their own desire is a kind of restructuring which Tinubu has promised but he cannot go all hog to pursue restructuring primarily because of his second term.
“The agitation may be uncalled for in terms of violence but the issue is that the Yorubas are gradually becoming uncomfortable with the federal arrangement. The federal character principle is observed in abeyance. The Federal Character Commission is not monitoring anything. Recruitment is not being supervised. The same set of people from the same ethnic group or the same religion may be recruited at a go in an agency or parastatal or organisation that claims to be federal including federal universities,” he added.
Instead of only clamping down on the agitators, the university don challenged governments at the federal and state levels to make life comfortable for the people.
“Salaries have not been increased for over a year now after the subsidy was removed. The state of the economy is bad. The Oodua states should demonstrate more commitment in taking care of the people,” he said.
Another Professor of Political Science, Sylvester Odion also stated that the renewed agitation was to pass a message of restructuring to the president.
“It is not about a Yoruba man occupying the presidency, it is about restructuring the country. No indication yet that Tinubu will pursue that cause,” he said.
But analysts say the authorities in the South-West must go beyond clamping down on the perpetrators to find out the motive behind the renewed agitation.
@Daily Trust