Akintoye Urges Yoruba To Sign Petition For Referendum To Leave Nigeria

The leader of Ilana Omo Oodua, Prof. Banji Akintoye, has called on Yoruba people inside and outside Nigeria to sign the petition for referendum being pushed by the Nigerian Indigenous Nationalities Alliance for Self-Determination.

He made the call in a statement made available to THE WHISTLER by his media aide, Maxwell Adeleye, on Wednesday.

Akintoye, who is a professor of History and the Chairman of NINAS said signing the petition would assist Yoruba towards realising their desire for self-determination, while urging them to sign the petition.

He said Yoruba people must move forwards towards accomplishing self determination but explained that the first step was for a referendum to be conducted.

He explained that referendum is exactly like an election people vote at polling units but not for a candidate or a political party but for or against a proposition. He said each voter would be required to vote either yes or no for the proposition.

The statement read. “Already some patriots under the umbrella of NINAS have now started to circulate a petition that we Yoruba, Igbo, Niger/Delta and Middle-Belt want a referendum.

“I urge all the millions of Yoruba people within and beyond Nigeria to vote in support of that petition. Sign in the petition that you want a Yoruba Nation so what we can use the petition supported by millions of us as a weapon to get our referendum.

“We might use the petitions to pressurize the Federal Government (that is the National Assembly and the Federal Executive) to grant us our Referendum. However the chances are that the Federal Ģovernment will answer no.

“Alternatively, we might take our petition to our state government and demand that they should gŕant us our referendum. Since our state governments are our own elected governments, we have a much better chance to compel them to do what we will want. What we will need is intese pressure persistently applied. We must not take no for answer.

“Finally, we can take our petition to the United Nations and demand of them to come and arrange our referendum. The United Nations has carried out referendums in many parts of the world. One such referendum made it possible for South Sudan to break away from the Republic of Sudan. Another made it possible for Timor Les to break away from Indonesia.

“Therefore, our Petition supported by millions of us is a great weapon to get our Referendum. So, we Yoruba must all make a rush to vote for the Petition that is now being circulated by NINAS.”