Yoruba group protests in Ibadan over alleged secession agenda from Nigeria

A report by the Nigerian Tribune indicates that two leading Yoruba socio-cultural groups are at loggerheads over the alleged secession agenda being championed by one of the groups for the southwest of Nigeria to break away from Nigeria and become an independent nation.

Legit.ng gathered that one of the groups, Yoruba World Congress (YWC), is led by its president-general, Prof Banji Akintoye while the second group, the Yoruba Appraisal Forum (YAF), is under the leadership of Adeshina Animashaun.

In a press conference organised on Tuesday, September 1, in Ibadan, the Oyo state capital, the YWC re-established a vote of absolute confidence in the leadership of Akintoye.

It was learnt that the YAF staged a peaceful protest march to the Oyo state governor’s office on Tuesday, September 1, against alleged secession agenda of YWC.

The YAF also presented a protest letter to the Governor Seyi Makinde through his executive assistant on security, Sunday Odukoya, who 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.”

The protesters carried placards with inscriptions, including: ‘What we need is development, not secession.’ Together we stand, divided we fall.’ Together we stand and love one another.’ ‘Believe in one Nigeria.’ ‘In one Nigeria we stand.’ ‘We are for unity, don’t beat the drum of war.’

Speaking on behalf of YWC, Tunde Hamzat, dismissed the news making the round that Akintoye was no longer the leader of the Yoruba nation, saying: “The Yoruba World Congress is one and indivisible under the leadership of Emeritus Prof Banji Akintoye. There is no crisis within the YWC. We are not in contention with anyone or group. This is a family issue which is being resolved within the clan.

“We remain unequivocally committed to the ideals of the Yoruba World Congress (YWC) as eloquently expressed by Prof. Banji Akintoye, which are to liberate the Yoruba race from the oppression and persecution which Nigeria represents, to establish a better, more promising future for our teeming youths and to ensure the peaceful achievement of the self-determination goals of the Yoruba nation.

Hamzat, who said the brains behind YAF were four members of YWC that were suspended based on certain issues, also noted that Akintoye emerged the leader of Yoruba nation on August 22, 2019, and within one year, more than 100 Yoruba, both in Nigeria and in the diaspora, have been admitted into the YWC.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that a socio-political group from the southwest region known as the Yoruba Summit Group (YSG) expressed its position on the call for a constitutional review in Nigeria.

It was reported that the YSG's public secretary, Mogaji Gboyega Adejumo, said the group stated that the nation is in desperate need of total change constitutionally.