South-West: Calls for secession out of frustration —Fayemi

…As Yoruba group dares Akeredolu, plans 1m march in Akure

…Yoruba in Diaspora hold dialogue on restructuring

By Dapo Akinrefon, with agency report

GOVERNOR Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State said yesterday that those calling for secession were doing so out of frustration.

Fayemi spoke a day after his Ondo State counterpart, Rotimi Akeredolu, dissociated his state from the calls for the secession of the South-West from Nigeria.

But the Ilana Omo Oodua, led by a renowned Professor of History, Banji Akintoye, yesterday, tackled Governor Akeredolu, saying he spoke only for himself, and not the people of Ondo State.

Fayemi on secession

Speaking on Arise Television yesterday, Fayemi said such agitation was expected, considering the stress and laxity in society.

The governor said: “Frankly, when you have stress and laxity in the society, you’re bound to find a whole range of responses. Some rational, some irrational, some that speak to the fears of the people, some opportunistic and harebrained.

‘’There’s no question that some of the reactions we’ve seen will fall into all of those categories.”

While expressing optimism that the country would triumph and survive the challenges currently facing it, Fayemi said the time had come for the devolution of power, adding that the country needed to adopt other measures at managing its diversity.

READ ALSO: Arewa youths give Igboho ultimatum to move Yoruba out of North

“I have gone on record to say that I have unfailing optimism that despite all our challenges, this country will triumph and we’ll survive current challenges.

‘’We, as leaders, must focus on the goal of protecting lives and property, and focus on safety and security as the primary responsibility that we have.

“The people who are talking about secession, frankly, are doing it out of frustration. I don’t think that’s the solution to the Nigerian predicament right now.

“In matters of economic development, we may need to begin to look at other ways of managing diversity and differences in our country and that devolution of power is an idea whose time has come.”

Yoruba group dares Akeredolu, plans 1m man march in Akure

Reacting to Akeredolu’s declaration Monday that Ondo State would not be a party to the secessionist plan of such persons as Igboho, the Ilana Omo Oodua said the agitation for self-determination “shall be bloodless, intellectually rooted, legally grounded.”

The group is the umbrella body of Yoruba Self-Determination Groups within and beyond the shores of Nigeria.

In a statement by Messrs Kunle Adesokan and Folashade Olukoya, Ilana Omo Oodua challenged Governor Akeredolu to allow it hold its planned one million man march in Ondo State “without unleashing the instrumentalities of terror and state-sponsored commercial thugs on the masses of the state that desire an autonomous Yoruba Nation.”

The statement read: “We wish to say very clearly that Akeredolu is entitled to his opinion. He has only spoken for himself. If he is sure he speaks for the classical masses of Ondo State, he should allow us to stage our one million march peacefully in Akure, Ondo State capital, to prove whether he spoke for Ondo State people or himself.

“We are saying for the sake of clarity that what we declared is the sovereignty of Yoruba Nation from Nigeria and not secession from Nigeria. We want an autonomous Yoruba Nation.

“We want to determine how we want to govern our people. We want to control and manage our resources. We want to police and secure the lives and properties of our people.

“We have made our position known. Our agitation for autonomous Yoruba Nation is legally grounded, intellectually rooted and it shall be executed without shedding of blood.”

Yoruba in Diaspora hold dialogue on restructuring

Also, a Diaspora Yoruba coalition, Yoruba One Voice, YOV, is set to hold a webinar lecture on the current state of Nigerian federalism and what may become of it.

In a statement by the Secretary-General of the Diaspora Group, Dr. Sina Okanlomo, the coalition said the webinar dialogue will hold on Saturday, March 27 at 5 pm Nigerian time.

Okanlomo stated that the lead speaker for the dialogue is the renowned scholar of Legal History at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Prof. Akin Alao.

The theme of the dialogue, which will be live on Webinar, is: ‘Dealing With The Critical Fault-Lines Of A Federation: Is It To Unbundle Or Restructure The Leviathan?’

Vanguard News Nigeria

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