October 1 rallies: Again, Banji Akintoye cautions against violence

President-General of Yoruba World Congress (YWC), Prof. Banji Akintoye, has again called on Yoruba planning to stage rallies in the country on October 1, 2020, to demand Oduduwa Republic to please keep the exercise thoroughly peaceful and never display any rowdy or disruptive behaviour or get into confrontation with law enforcement personnel.

A Diaspora coalition, Yoruba One Voice (YOV) last week said its proposed sensitization rally tagged: “Oodua Republic Sensitization Campaign,” designed to draw attention to situation and happenings in Nigeria slated for October 1, 2023 will still hold.

Akintoye, a renowned historian, reiterated his call on Tuesday in a statement made available to newsmen by his media office, cautioning against violent or disruptive rallies, even as he reminded that their message was too important to allow confrontations or distractions to taint it.

According to the elder statesman, who noted that Yoruba nation is powerful and the people in Nigeria are very proud of those in the diaspora who have decided to lead the battle, it is good to hold rallies as they help to spread the message, but further cautioned against allowing the exercises to create outcomes that can disrupt, obstruct or distract from the central message.

Text of the statement read: “As Yoruba people in Diaspora hold mass rallies in many countries of the world on October one, I very warmly congratulate and thank them all.

“All Yoruba people back home in Nigeria are watching them with joy, gratitude and pride. Yoruba people at home are grateful that you are showing the wide world the the horrific conditions in which Yoruba people live in Nigeria.

“The barbarous invasion of our land by a people, the Fulani, who are part of Nigeria, the fiendish killings of our people and destruction of our homes and means of livelihood. And the massive importations of armed men to our towns and cities.

“For Yoruba people at home in Nigeria, my message is to repeat my earlier messages: Please keep our rallies thoroughly peaceful. Never display any rowdy or disruptive behaviour. Never get into any argument or confrontation with law enforcement personnel. If the police anywhere ask you not to rally or to disperse, disperse peacefully.

“Always remember that your message is too important to allow confrontations or distractions. Your Yoruba nation is powerful. It commands the intellectual, human and other resources to achieve its self-determination in a peaceful and law-abiding manner,” Akintoye said.

“It is good to hold rallies. Rallies help to spread the message. But we must not allow our rallies to create outcomes that can disrupt, obstruct or distract from our central message,” he added.

 

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