60m Yoruba ready to exit Nigeria, UK studying request – Akintoye
The leader of the Yoruba Self-Determination Movement, Prof. Banji Akintoye, has vowed that the movement will not give up on its quest for the Yoruba nation.
According to Akintoye, about 60 million Yoruba people, both at home and in the diaspora, supported the quest to establish the Yoruba Nation, as a sovereign country.
Speaking with The PUNCH on Monday, Akintoye said, “We are not going back. We must leave Nigeria, or our nation will perish.
“Don’t you hear our voice in the streets? Yoruba Nation now, no going back.
“We mean, the Yoruba people in Nigeria, roughly 55 to 60 million people. We want to establish a country of our own. There will be no Nigeria where we have our country. But if the rest want to continue as Nigeria, they are okay.”
Asked about last year’s letter written to the government of the United Kingdom, concerning the movement’s agitation, Akintoye said it received an acknowledgement from the UK government that it was being attended to.
“We knew from the beginning that we were dealing with one of the most powerful governments in the world and that it is not something you can expect a response to in a month or two.
The imaginary Yoruba far-right
But we have got a general kind of acknowledgement that our letter was being attended to. We got the acknowledgement on a date after we submitted the letter.
“It’s the British government. We cannot rush them; so, that does not mean they are not giving it the needed importance. They are doing it their way,” Akintoye said.
In a similar letter written to the Nigerian government, requesting a peaceful breakaway, Akintoye said it had evidence that its letter was causing some panic within the government.
“Yes, they (the Nigerian government) are working on it. We know that they are working on it and we have seen evidence that our letter is causing them some trouble. But they don’t have to have any trouble with us.
“Certain things they must take into consideration. First, is that we have a right to ask for the self-determination of our people.
“The United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous People affirms that very clearly that every Indigenous people in the world have a right to self-determination and separation from their country to which they currently belong; that they must do it peacefully and not violently and in a disruptive manner. And we are following those directions very carefully,” Akintoye said.
