Why S/West Govs Disowned Yoruba Secession Agitators – Prof. Akintoye’s Group

The umbrella body for Yoruba self-determination groups, Ilana Omo Oodua, has said that  South-West governors disowned the agitation for Yoruba Nation because they are aware that they will be intimidated and persecuted by the Federal Government if they identify with the struggle.

The group, which is headed by Prof. Banji Akintoye, a Second Republic senator said the governors were not opposed to the agitation. He stated that  they did not want to be seen as violating the oath of office which they swore to- to defend the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The Communication Secretary of Ilana Omo Oodua, Mr Maxwell Adeleye, said this in an interview with THE WHISTLER on Tuesday.

South-West All Progressives Congress governors, Speaker, House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, former  Interim National Chairman of APC, Chief Bisi Akande and former Lagos State Governor, Bola Tinubu among others had disowned the growing agitation for Yoruba Nation after a meeting in Lagos on Sunday.

Although the Chairman of Governors’ Forum, Dr Kayode Fayemi and the Chairman of South-West Governors’ Forum were absent at the meeting, none of them has said anything contrary to the positions contained in the communique issued after the meeting.

The spokesman for Ilana Omo Oodua said if the governors were opposed to their agitation for Yoruba Nation, they would not support ban on open grazing and they would not have established the Western Security Network Agency popularly known as Amotekun to tackle the growing insecurity in the region.

He said, ” They are not opposed to our agitation from the bottom of their hearts. We went to Ibadan, the Oyo State capital where we started our rally, the governor there did not chase us out. Although the police came in large number and the rally was slightly delayed, we still held the rally.

“We went to Abeokuta, you saw what happened in Osogbo and Akure. We marched thought the streets and the people trolled out to support us. We did not need to mobilise anybody, thousands of our people came out and identified with us, they want Yoruba Nation and nothing else.

” The  governors are not opposed to our agitation from Yoruba Nation. The Ondo State governor said he did not support us but he was quick to say that we have the right to gather. You can see that he is for one Nigeria but he is not opposing us. Because it is our right.

“What we are asking for is our inalienable right. Right to self-determination is there, it is our right and nobody is doing us any favour by allowing us to stage our rallies. It is our right.

” We have been very peaceful in the way we organise ourselves. We don’t carry arms, we are not attacking anybody. We are being led by highly cerebral people and who do not subscribe to violence. We will achieve our aim very soon.”

He said that if anybody was seen behaving in a violent way at any of their rallies, the leaders would handover such to security agents because ” such people may be sponsored to give us a bad name.”

According to him, Yoruba agitators are not clamouring for restructuring because restructuring could no longer address the problems being faced by Yoruba people.

” The best thing for us now is to be self-independent. The governors are applying wisdom and we are not at a war with them. It is like that because of the way Nigeria is structured now.

” But very soon, the governors will be forced to join by the time they see everybody in the region agitating for Yoruba Nation. It will happen and very soon everybody will see it,” he added.