A socio-cultural group in the South-West, The Yoruba Appraisal Forum (YAF), has cautioned against purported plans in some quarters to push for the secession of the Yoruba nation from Nigeria.
The Adeshina Animashaun led group made this call during a peaceful protest in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, on Tuesday.
Bearing placards with various inscriptions, the YAF said members were against any agenda capable of allowing the Yoruba nation and the entire country drift into a war zone.
Inscriptions on the placards included, “Together we stand and love one another; Believe in one Nigeria, Together we stand, divided we fall; In one Nigeria we stand; We are for unity, don’t beat the drum of war; What we need is development, not secession.”
The group warned that any agenda that would breed unhealthy rivalry among the federating units should be abhorred.
Spokesman of the group, Ojo Oloketuyi, decried that those mooting the idea of secession of Yoruba nation from Nigeria were being selfish.
He stressed that the federating units can cohabit and develop at their own pace.
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“We are here today to express our agitation because some people are canvassing for the secession of Yoruba from Nigeria. We tried to find out whether our traditional rulers are privy to the idea but they said they are not in support. What is the use? Our leaders and representatives are not carried along. It is selfish.
“We don’t want war and crisis. We want job creation, we want infrastructural provision. We are against those calling for dissolution,” Oloketuyi said.
The group subsequently presented a letter dated September 1, titled, ‘Please, save Yorubaland from imminent doom!’ signed by Adeshina Animashaun, its National Coordinator, to Governor Seyi Makinde.
The letter read in parts, “Your Excellency, a motley of crowd of discontents, zealots have lately increased the tempo of their unpatriotic activities masquerading as championing the cause of the Yoruba people of the South-West. Their activities, at best, qualify for nothing good.
“The Yoruba Appraisal Forum is by this statement giving a notice that we, as responsible Yoruba, will not fold our arms and watch a few disgruntled and self-serving individuals to turn our land into a wartorn zone like Somalia and Sudan. If
it ever becomes imperative for Yorubaland to break away from the rest of Nigeria, it should be a collective decision of all Yoruba people within Nigeria and in the Diaspora.”
In his address to the forum, Special Adviser to Governor Makinde on Security, Mr Sunday Odukoya said, “We have received your letter. We shall deliver your message to the governor. Now that you have expressed your reservations, we assure you that we shall address the matter.”
purported secession of Yoruba nation
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