Former Governor of Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to honourably resign as the President of Nigeria.
Fayose stressed that the only thing that would give Nigerians “unspeakable joy” as the country turns 60 years is the announcement of the resignation of President Buhari.
He alleged that President Buhari’s regime is the worst in Nigeria’s history.
Fayose in his message to mark Nigeria’s 60th Independence Anniversary noted that the country is “presently in coma and on life-support” under Buhari.
In a statement released by his Spokesperson, Lere Olayinka, Fayose said there was nothing to celebrate in a country bedeviled with insecurity, hunger, bare-faced corruption, and bad governance.
“The government is for the people and not the people for the government. It must therefore be accountable to people. The police must also be mindful of the fact that they are part of society.
“The reality is that Nigerians are not happy with the present situation of the country. More so that this present government appears to be the worst in the history of Nigeria.
“Nigerians are not happy about the debts accumulated by this government because they can’t see anything being done with the money borrowed.
“They are angry that they can no longer go to their farms, travel on the roads and even sleep in their homes without the fear of being kidnapped, killed or raped by armed bandits.
“Nobody wants Nigeria to disintegrate. Rather, Nigerians want to live their lives normally without minding which party is in government, and as it appears, living in Nigeria has been made extremely difficult by this government.
“Painfully, most of those who are desirous of leaving the country for greener pastures abroad are unable to do so because advanced countries are banning Nigerians from coming to their countries.
“The already weak shoulders of Nigerians are being made to carry too much burden and they have rights to show their displeasure”, the statement says.
The Ondo State Governor, Mr Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, has described his estranged Deputy, Agboola Ajayi, as “greedy, and someone that lacks contentment”.
According to Akeredolu his Deputy was receiving N13million monthly as running grant which makes him the highest paid Deputy Governor in Nigeria.
But in a swift reaction, Ajayi pointed out that this amount was a peanut, compared to what accrues to the governor’s family monthly from the state purse.
The Governor, who spoke while responding to questions on the state-owned radio station explained that Ajayi had a free hand to operate with unfettered access to all state properties and to his office, stating that two ministries were given to Ajayi to manage but the Deputy Governor was never contented.
“Agboola Ajayi is the highest paid deputy Governor in Nigeria, as I speak. He earns more than the Deputy Governor of Lagos State. He earns over N13 million monthly as running grants for his office.
“Ajayi is just a greedy man that lacks contentment. I gave him a free hand to perform as a deputy governor. I gave him two ministries to run. He constructed roads. He built a number of schools. His wife also built a number of schools. The list is endless.
“Ajayi enjoyed more benefits than his predecessors as a Deputy Governor, but was only greedy. He had a free access to all state properties. He had a free access to me and all documents.
“He was even nick-named Arakunrin Kekere. So, a man that would betray you would betray you no matter how you treat him. I have left Ajayi to God and posterity to judge him” Akeredolu, said.
Reacting to the Governor’s claims, the Deputy Governor stated that he was appalled by the fact that the governor claimed he pockets state resources every month as if he has been doing so illegally and against the law.
A statement by his media aide, Allen Sowore, states: “The Deputy Governor is surprised that the Governor could go to the press, announcing the sum of N13m as what the Deputy Governor gets, as if it was a gift for personal use, and not for the use of his office.
“The Deputy Governor states that what came to his office, until Akeredolu refused to release same, was 12million Naira per month. This includes the imprest of his office, allowances of staff, fuelling of vehicles, care of his residence and welfare of his aides.
“Huge as the amount may appear, it amounts to not so much when the heads and number of individuals it caters for are considered.
“This also pales to nearly nothing when compared to what Akeredolu and members of his family skim off the purse of our state with reckless abandon.
“For instance, the Governor gets a security vote of N750million every month. He, Akeredolu, also gets an imprest of about N150million, his wife, though occupies no constitutionally recognised position, and takes an imprest of N15million naira per month.
“Apart from this, she collects an additional sum of N11million from the Ministry of Women Affairs, which she runs like a potentate.
“Babajide, Akeredolu’s son, is also not left out in the pillage that Akeredolu and his family is visiting on Ondo State. He too takes a whopping N5m monthly, and rips off the state by taking unbelievable commissions as a consultant to the State on almost every imaginable areas.
“All these are apart from millions and millions they get from inflated contracts awarded to family members and lackeys.”
The Deputy Governor is challenging his boss, the Governor, at October 10 election, after he quit the APC, on the platform of the ZLP.
I want to first thank God Almighty the Father of all creation and the maker of Heaven and earth. Strange as it may sound, I would like to thank the colonial heights masters who wove our diverse peoples together and for all the efforts that they put into ensuring that we had everything a people had to launch itself into a modern state. It is a time to thank those brave and selfless missionaries who laid the foundation for our modern civilisation by providing us with high quality education.We must appreciate the context of colonialism and the fact that its driving philosophy was the exploitation of our resources and we must concede that they laid the solid foundation for extracting our resources for the development of their own country. Their interests were buried in the womb of the country they created. Today, we have destroyed the institutions they created and distorted their vision for our development.
2: On October 1, 1960 when we became independent, our joy clearly knew no end. It was my first year in primary school.We all turned out as neat as we could afford to be to hear our Head Master talk about the terrible white men who had come and stolen our lands. I didn’t understand this because I never saw anyone stop my father from going to farm. We played around freely in the village and so, I thought to myself, which land did white people take? I had seen only two white men in my life then. Both of them Priests and even though I did not know fully what a Priest was, they were good men and came from a very far country.
3: They had built a Church and school for our village and that was the first building I saw that was not thatched. It was impossible for me to understand how any white man could be wicked or even steal our land. The teacher talked about a new song which we were to sing in praise of our new country even though I did not see anything that was new. I had no idea what was being said in the song but we all tried to murmur something in excitement. The greatest treasure was the little flags and cups that were distributed to us. Holding to my first cup in my life and waving a little flag seemed like a great contradiction to the Head Master’s portrayal of the white thief.
4: We soon learnt the name of our new Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa the man who came to be known as the golden voice of Africa. In his speech on October 1, 1960, the Prime Minister announced that;our new day had arrived and promised to dedicate his life for the service of the country. He noted that our country had emerged without bitterness and bloodshed and that; building of our nation proceeded at the wisest pace: it has been thorough, and Nigeria now stands well-built upon firm foundations.
5: Barely six years later, we murdered him. He became a symbol of the blood sacrifice that has now drenched our country in a sea of blood arising from a civil war and endless circles of communal bloodletting which have now become part and parcel of our governance structure. Successive leaders have not come to terms with how to end this culture of death. Today, our country is littered with the very sharp pieces of broken promises.
Our Dreams Turns To Nightmare
Yesterday’s dreams have become our worst nightmares. As we look back today, watching our country drift in a wide sea of uncertainty, we ask, from where our help come? (Ps 121: 1). After sixty years, bloodletting has become embedded in our culture of existence. So, how do we celebrate?
6: There is enough blame to go around. We can blame the British, blame the politicians, blame the military but none of these changes anything. It is the fate of nations to go through the furnace and crucible of suffering. Under the banner of religion, Europe fought the 30 years war (1618-1648), the world lost millions of men and women in two wars propelled by human greed (1914-1918, 1939-1945). Fleeing from the Kuomintang army, Mao led his people on the famous long march stretching thousands of miles (1934-1935). Mr. Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom is a metaphor for the struggles against white domination. Journeys to greatness require more than just good people, more than just good will, more than just hope. Those journeys have to be led by men and women with vision and tested character prepared to mobilise their people towards the attainment of a goal.
7: It is easy to say that we have been one unlucky country. The evidence is glaring. One of our Presidents marveled at how a country that had taken so much beating was still standing. In spite of huge resources after 60 years, we cannot feed our people, we cannot keep our people safe, we are still in darkness, we cannot communicate with one another by roads or railways. What we inherited, we have either stolen, broken or thrown away. The nation is a wasteland littered with white elephant projects, conceived and abandoned but all paid for. In Nigeria, governance is a criminal enterprise, not a call to service.
8: No nation has ever taken a short cut to success, not because we have not tried, but because no such road exists. The military, perhaps even worse than the colonial state destroyed the very foundations of our Democracy, Bureaucracy and public service by introducing a culture of arbitrariness and violence as a means to power. A combination of these laid the foundation for corruption as the worst manifestation of a culture of total lack of accountability. To be sure, when General Abdusalami A. Abubakar broke with the military tradition of clutching to power in 1999, he laid a foundation for the return to Democracy and a retreat of the military. We thank God that after over 20 years, we have conducted five back to back elections even in the most controversial of circumstances. After 16 years of being ruled by one political party, the nation decided it was fed up with arrogance and blatant thieving and looting that had become the political culture. Its citizens made a radical and unprecedented turn.
9: In 2014, the unexpected happened: a sitting President conceded defeat against the run of play and even well before the tally of all the votes had come in. The nation, well across ethnic, religions, regional and class lines believed it had turned the corner. The new President had campaigned on a rich menu of promises, ending corruption, ending Boko Haram, ending poverty, uniting the country among others. He ushered in his administration by promising to uphold the Constitution and said he would “belong to everyone and to no one”. We all looked up in hope to a man who had campaigned on the key philosophy of Integrity and Character.
Under Buhari, Nepotism Reigns
10: Today, the tide has turned. The President has turned his back on almost all the key promises he made to the people of Nigeria during his campaign. Our country now looks like a boiling pot that everyone wants to escape from. Nepotism has become the new ideology of this government. In following this ideology, it is estimated that the President has handed over 85% of the key positions to northern Muslims and has ensured that men of his faith hold tight to the reins of power in the most critical areas of our national life; the National Assembly and the Security Agencies!
11: In chapter 2 of our Constitution, under Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy, the Constitution states very clearly and unambiguously in Section 13 that: “It shall be the duty and responsibility of all organs of government, and of all authorities and persons, exercising legislative, executive or judicial powers, to conform to, observe and apply the provisions of this Chapter of this Constitution.”
President Muhammadu Buhari
Section 14(1) states very clearly that: “The Federal Republic of Nigeria shall be a State based on the principles of democracy and social justice.” Article (b) follows by stating that: “the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government”, and subsection 3, states that: “The composition of the Government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also to command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few States or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that Government or in any of its agencies.”
Buhari, Violates The Constitution And Nigerians
12: By adopting Nepotism as a primary ideology, clearly unable to secure our country and people, President Muhammadu Buhari is in flagrant violation of the Constitution which he swore to uphold. Today, our sense of national unity is severely under threat and test. Our common citizenship has been fractured and diminished. The principles of equity, fairness and egalitarianism on which our Constitution hangs have been assaulted and diminished.
13: Nigerian citizens feel collectively violated. There is clearly a conflict in narratives and understanding between the principles and ideologies contained in the Manifesto of the Party on which he campaigned and the brutal realities of today. It would seem that it was in anticipation of this dissonance that the President built such a firewall of protection around himself by the partisan selection of Security Chiefs based on religious and ethnic affiliation. It could be the reason for the adoption of the same principles in the National Assembly today. The President has been quite diligent and focused in the pursuit of an Agenda that is clearly alien to the aspirations and hopes of our people across religious lines. Nigeria was nothing like this before he came. How long will this lie last before it melts in our faces? We are living a lie and we know it.
14: The motto of our dear nation reads: Unity and Faith, Peace and Progress. Today, where is Nigeria’s Unity? Today, who has Faith in Nigeria? Today, where is the Peace? Today, where is the Progress? The whole world stood with Nigeria sixty years ago expecting us to lead Africa and beyond. TIME Magazine on December 5th, 1960 made our Prime Minister its Man of Year. No black person had been conferred with this honour. Where are we today with that trust?
15: At the end of his speech 60 years ago, our beloved Prime Minister thanked the missionaries for the great work they had done in Nigeria. We as a Church are still on out duty post, following the legacy of those who have gone before us. The Catholic Bishops spent the last forty days praying every day for an end to the killings. As we celebrate our independence today, I call on the President to please urgently make a turn and heed the voices of Nigeria’s friends and the rest of the world.
16: We all face a dilemma: it is our national day but how can we sing a song when our country has become a Babylon? Where are the Chibok daughters? Where is Leah Sharibu? Who are the sponsored murderers who have overrun our land? Our land is now a pool of blood. Mr. President, please reset the clock before it is too late. I pray for you that God will touch your heart so that you embrace the ideals of those who came before you. This is not the Nigeria they dreamt of. This is not the Nigeria you went to war for. With hope in God, but sorrow in my heart, I say to Nigerians, let us stand together. Let us renew our faith. Our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed (Rom. 13:11). God bless our beloved fatherland
Kukah, PhD, the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, presented this address on October 1, Nigeria’s Independence Day
President Muhammadu Buhari is being lashed by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, over his Independence Day speech.
The PDP described the economic assertions in Buhari’s speech as a huge slap on the sensibilities of Nigerians.
The Party charged President Buhari to wake up to reality and take demonstrable urgent steps that will address the divisive tendencies and poor economic policies of his administration, which are fast decimating the Nation under his watch.
PDP, in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbodiyan, says that President Buhari’s attempt to justify the increase in fuel price by comparing it to the N168 per liter cost in Saudi Arabia is a morbid joke, noting that the minimum wage in Saudi Arabia is N305,113 (3000 Saudi Riyals), ten times higher than Nigeria’s paltry N30,000 which is largely unimplemented.
“Is Mr. President not aware that, on the average, a person working in Saudi Arabia earns around 4,230SAR (N430, 267) to 16,700 SAR (N1,698,693) per month?
‘Our party charges Mr. President to always check his books before making such offensive comparisons including the price in Egypt where monthly average earning is around N222, 841 (9,200 EGP) against our N30,000.
“In comparing our costs with other countries such as Ghana, Chad and Niger where purchasing powers of citizens are much more higher, did Mr. President reflect on the cost of house rent, education, healthcare and average dependence on fuel for daily survival by ordinary citizens as obtainable in Nigeria?
“If the flawed assertions as evident in Mr. President’s speech are a direct reflection of how policies are formulated in his administration, then one needs not wonder why our economy is in doldrums.
“Indeed, it is imperative to state that if the Buhari administration had summoned the competence and honesty to continue the programs already laid by previous administrations under our party to revive our refineries, and provide infrastructural backbone for our productive sector, fuel price will not be more than N100 per liter, in addition to the gains from by-product from crude oil.
“The PDP, therefore, urges Mr. President to engender harmony and productivity by allowing for more robust discourse that will lead to affordable prices for fuel and other essential commodities in our country.”
Ologbodiyan stressed that the PDP also holds as ludicrous that President Buhari is hyping his ‘better together’ theme when the administration he heads, runs on nepotism, disregard for rule of law, human right abuses, corruption, political intolerance, suppression of free speech and aggression towards dissenting voices.
The Party, however, urged the President Buhari administration to end his rhetoric and take practical steps to entrench the culture of rule of law, and strengthen harmonious living through inclusiveness, equity in wealth distribution, and equal access to opportunities for all Nigerians irrespective of creed, class, and ethnicity.
“Furthermore, credible elections are essential to harmonious living. Our party, therefore, restates our commendation to Mr. President for his new found commitment to non-interference in elections leading to conduct of free, fair and credible governorship election in Edo State on September 19.
“We urge President Buhari to toe the line of the Edo election in the October 10, 2020 Ondo governorship election so as to consolidate the legacy of free and fair election under his watch.
“Additionally, Mr. President should exert himself on rebuilding our economy by ending his borrowing spree and focusing on our productive capacity instead of his endless lamentation over his failures.
“Moreover, security is pivotal to our economic revival. The unceasing acts of insurgency, banditry and kidnapping in the last five years have wrecked our nation’s productivity and threatened her corporate existence.
“It is therefore worrisome that Mr. President’s speech did not address the call on him by Nigerians demanding that he rejigs his security architecture to inject new blood that will effectively confront our security challenges.
“Our party restates our belief in the potentials of our nation and urges Mr. President to seek help by engaging more competent hands to assist in handling the affairs of our nation”, the Party stated.
The President’s fuel price comparisons in his Independence day speech angered not a few Nigerians.
There are palpable fears in Ekiti State, as the Police Command revealed, and raised an alarm over the presence of armed aliens in the State.
Security has, therefore, been raised to the highest level.
The Command, in a statement, said it discovered through intelligence gathering that some groups of persons suspected to be armed hoodlums and criminally minded aliens have concluded plans to enter the state to unleash evil, cause havoc and create apprehension.
The statement, signed by the Command’s spokesman, ASP Sunday Abutu, indicated that the hoodlums will arrive the state with the pretence of settling down peacefully with their host communities while the other set will come later to launch an attack and cause havoc.
“The Command wishes to state that this does not call for panic rather, it is a call for an effective and enhanced Community Policing.
“In view of this, the Commissioner of Police, Ekiti State Command, implores all and sundry to be security conscious, extremely vigilant and report to the police immediately any suspected person or group of persons arriving, residing or found roaming about in their environs.
“The Commissioner, also, implores land owners, landlords and agents to be conscious of, and know the identities of those they accommodate, let or sell their properties to in order to avoid accommodating ,or harboring, criminals who may, in turn, threaten the peace of the Society.”
It advised commercial drivers and motorcyclists to be watchful and report to the Police, immediately, any suspected traveller arriving any part of the State.
The Command assured the people of the state of its prompt response to ensuring the safety of lives and properties.
President of the United States of America, Donald Trump, and his wife Melania, are Coronavirus-positive.
President Trump revealed this Friday morning.
Trump: “Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin out quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER.”
It is not known when the couple contracted the Virus, but Trump has never taken, very seriously, the Virus, and had broken all the protocols, including the use of facemask.
He, frequently, condemned the use of facemask, and in their first debate, mocked the Democratic Party candidate, former Vice President Joe Biden, for wearing facemasks in public.
He has disagreed with Scientists, and the Agency in charge of disease control in the US, CDC on the best way to manage the Virus which has killed thousands of Americans, and affected millions.
Trump and his wife follow a long list of high profile world citizens who had fallen victim to COVID-19.
After a long forced holiday due to the COVID-19 pandemic, schools in Imo State will now resume on Monday October 5. Last week, the Government had announced it was not prepared to open schools in the state until it is through with Community testing for COVID-19.
Apparently satisfied the Government, on Sunday, gave approval for the resumption of schools on Monday October 5, 2020.
The resumption is, however, subject to the adherence to the recommendations by the Committee responsible for ensuring that Covid-19 safety protocols headed by the Deputy Governor of the State, Prof. Placid Njoku.
The decision to reopen the schools was reached at the State Executive Council Meeting on Wednesday September 30, 2020 presided over by Governor Hope Uzodimma.
Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Declan Emelumba who briefed the press, also, said that the Council gave approval for the Imo State School system to be fully automated and digitalized to capture pupils and students enrollment; teachers, pupils and students personal data; payment of school fees; examination details and other relevant information concerning schools in Imo.
The reason for automation, the Commissioner emphasized, is to make it easy for government, parents, teachers, students, pupils and the general public to access information on schools as well as data of anyone who passed through such schools. Emelumba said that the Commissioner for Education will head the automation process.
The Commissioner however informed, regrettably, that the State Executive Council had received information that the planned warning strike by doctors in Imo State is not only politically motivated, but an intention to blackmail government.
He said that government has been making frantic efforts to sanitize the wrongs and rots in the payroll system where past administrations, civil and public servants have been found to be complicit.
Government, therefore, enjoined the public not to be deceived by the planned doctors warning strike. Emelumba, however, urged the doctors in the State, especially their leaders, to reconsider their stand on the planned warning strike and think of amicable resolution through dialogue with the appropriate government officials.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has revealed, through its witness, at a Federal High Court, in Lagos, that it has begun an investigation of former Lagos State House of Assembly Speaker, Adeyemi Ikuforiji. This, the Commission said, follows a petition accusing him of a N500million monthly fraud during his tenure in office.
Adebayo Adeniyi, an EFCC investigator, told Justice Mohammed Liman that the probe unearthed some payments received by Ikuforiji, which were above the threshold allowed by the Money Laundering Act.
Adeniyi testified as the EFCC’s first witness at the beginning of Ikuforiji’s alleged N338.8million money laundering trial.
Ikuforiji is standing trial alongside his former personal assistant, Oyebode Atoyebi, on 54 count charges bordering on the offences.
They pleaded not guilty before Justice Mohammed Liman last December 11, 2019, and were allowed to continue on a N500 million bail granted them in 2012 when they were first arraigned.
Led in examination by EFCC counsel, Ekene Ihenacho, the witness stated that in June 2011, it received a petition alleging that the first defendant, Ikuforiji, was siphoning N500million monthly from the Lagos House of Assembly.
He said the EFCC then began investigation and visited Lagos State House of Assembly, recovering from the office of the clerk, some documents which were instrumental to their investigation, while the clerk was invited to the commission.
“We recovered some payment registers and when we went through them, we discovered that a lot of cash payments were made to the second defendant (Atoyebi). We invited him to explain why the payments were made to him.
“He told us that the payments were meant for the first defendant (Ikuforiji), and when we interrogated the first defendant, he actually confirmed that the second defendant was collecting the money for him,” Adeniyi said.
Justice Liman fixed October 14 for continuation of trial following the prosecution’s application for adjournment.
According to the witness, some of the series of cash payments made to the second defendant were above the threshold allowed by the Money Laundering Act.
When prompted to demonstrate portions of such payments, the witness said that in exhibit E, from the transaction of April 30, 2010, N3million was collected by the second defendant on behalf of the first defendant.
“On April 27, 2010, N10million was collected in cash by the second defendant, while on May 6, 2010, the cash sum of N1.7million was also collected by the second defendant on behalf of the first,” Adeniyi said.
Justice Ibrahim Buba of the Federal High Court, Lagos, had earlier discharged both men of the same allegations in 2015 on the grounds that they had no case to answer.
But the lower court’s decision was reversed by the Supreme Court, following which Ikuforiji and Atoyebi were, on December 11, 2019, re-arraigned by the EFCC before Justice Liman.
The leadership and members of the Forum of Ex-Agitators of the Presidential Amnesty Phase II, have declared support for the Senatorial ambition of former Governor Henry Seriake Dickson.
The Chairman of the forum, comprising 6,166 ex-agitators, Mr Aso Tambo, said while speaking with journalists on Thursday in Toru Orua, Sagbama, that the ex-militants who were granted Amnesty by the Yar’Adua Administration decided to back Chief Dickson because of his antecedents as a strong and committed believer in the Ijaw cause.
He said, “We are supporting Chief Dickson because he believes in the defence òf the Ijaw interest. He is a Nationalist who is keen on protecting the Ijaw interest. He is one person that is committed to the desire to move the Ijaw Nation forward.”
Tambou called on all ex- agitators and the youths of Bayelsa West and Bayelsa Central where the Senatorial bye- elections will hold, to work towards the conduct of a peaceful credible, free and fair election.
Tambou, who advised the ex-agitators to ensure that they vote and defend the votes, also, urged them to resist being used by unscrupulous political actors to subvert the democratic process.
He said that the ex-agitators, under his leadership, were concerned that elections in Bayelsa from 2015 to date have been very turbulent because of the use of the youths to cause electoral crisis and violence which, according to him, should stop.
Tambou called on the Federal Government and the Security Agencies to collaborate with the ex- agitators and, indeed, the youth populace to work towards the conduct of peaceful and credible election in the state.
“As ex agitators and freedoms fighters who fought for the emancipation òf our people, we have realized that we are the same people that they are still using against one another to disrupt elections.
“So this time, we have come out to support a candidate of our interest.
We are also working as a team to ensure that there is peace in the election. Wherever election is taking place in Bayelsa West Senatorial District and also Bayelsa Central, we are working to ensure that the votes count. They should vote their interest, and the right to vote and the votes must be protected.
“We are also using this opportunity to appeal to the Federal Government and security agencies to work with us, and we will also work with them to ensure that there is peaceful and credible election come October 31, 2020.
“My message to the youths across party lines is to vote and protect your votes. Ensure that your votes are protected. Every youth should adhere strictly to the stipulations of the electoral act, to ensure that the votes counts,” he added.
The Coalition of Yoruba Self Determination Groups is demanding for a referendum for an Oduduwa Republic.
The Group said that Nigeria, as a nation is no more habitable for the Yoruba people, stressing that Nigeria is still crawling and has many ailments threatening its survival.
It, also, added that the afflictions Nigeria is suffering from may end its lifespan, unless a surgical operation is done to remove its festering tumor.
The Group comprising over 24 self-determination Groups said that Nigeria has continued to record stunted growths with its economic fortunes nose-diving into the abyss, unlike its contemporaries like Singapore, Brazil, Ghana, India, South Africa and others.
A statement by the Group, signed by Rasaq Olokooba, on behalf of the other Groups, said that the Yoruba People are indigenous to 10 States in Nigeria being Delta (Itshekiri), Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Kogi, Kwara, Ekiti and Edo State (Akoko).
It added that the Yoruba people have continued to experience and endure different forms of hardship and repression beginning from the political upheavals in 1962, during the Civil War, where many Yoruba were forced to fight a war that had no meaning to them, to the dotted landscapes of military coups and the imposition of repressives regime over Yoruba territories, to the annulment of June 12, 1993 elections won by a Yoruba Man, Late Moshood Abiola.
“In the past few months, a new and fervent moment of Yoruba Self Determination Groups has been reinvigorated, and it is spreading like wildfire. In six continents, various Yoruba Groups of which we are involved will be holding rallies, all calling for an Independent Yoruba Nation
“This demand is a popular struggle, as the product of spinless leadership over the years has characterised Nigeria and has accentuated vicious attacks on Yoruba Values and Civilization. This agitation for Oduduwa Republic is fueled by certain unfortunate developments.
“The primary and secondary causes of these are Political and economic exclusion, lack of electoral credibility, Corruption, Yoruba people are not allowed to choose their leaders, Nepotism, primitive acquisition of public wealth by public Officials, disdain for human rights and the dignity of Man.
“The secondary factors are the invasion of Yorubaland by armed alien forced; the audacity by alien people invading, kidnapping, maiming and killing Yoruba people; the mass migration of economic, cultural and extremists refugees to Yorubaland; destruction of Forest resources by armed Fulani Invaders and militias”.
The Group added that the right of people to self determination is a fundamental principle in modern international law, and binds all members of United Nation together, in which Nigeria is member.
It, however, warned the Federal Government, Police and all Security Operatives to respect the rights of the Yoruba people to self determination and any attempt to attack, arrest, kill or kidnap main advocates of this cause will only strengthen and embolden the Group in line with global best practices.
The Group, also, warned opposing self determination Groups to desist from provoking the people who are ready to key into an idea that has been in the offing for decades.
It called on the United Nations to organise a self determination referendum for ethnic nationalities in Nigeria before the 2023 elections.
However, a number of other Yoruba Groups, and stakeholders, are against a secession, and have asked the Federal Government to ignore the calls.
