The National Leader of the Yoruba Self-Determination Movement, Professor Banji Akintoye, has intensified his call for the separation of the Yoruba Nation from Nigeria, lamenting the death of over 29,000 Yoruba people in the hands of suspected Fulani herdsmen and bandits.
In a statement marking the anniversary of Yoruba Unity Day, Akintoye urged South West governors and monarchs to officially declare September 23 as Yoruba Unity Day.
Akintoye, a renowned historian, claimed that the Fulani bandits have killed over 29,000 Yoruba people, while also engaging in rape, kidnappings, and widespread destruction of farmlands.
“In the rural areas of our homeland, where probably the majority of our people live, the Fulani people, who are determined to seize land for a homeland of their own, are daily killing our people,” Akintoye said.
“They have killed a roughly estimated 29,000 of our people, are raping our women, kidnapping men, women, and children, extorting millions of Naira in ransom, and destroying farms, food barns, and villages.”
He emphasized that the solution to the worsening insecurity lies in the separation of the Yoruba Nation from Nigeria.
“The only viable and sustainable answer to all this horrible situation is to separate our Yoruba nation from Nigeria and establish our own country,” Akintoye stated.
“In our own country, we shall be able to exercise our sovereignty to provide security for our land and people, and run our economy decently in the way that we Yoruba know.”
Akintoye also called on Yoruba traditional rulers and state governors to adopt Yoruba Unity Day as a public holiday, urging the Obas and the South West governors to unite in celebrating the day.
“Obas, the fathers of our nation, should adopt this Yoruba Unity Day in their Councils of Obas in all our Yoruba states. I urge our governors, when they assemble in their Southwest Governors meeting, to adopt this day for all our states.”
He further expressed frustration over the federal government’s alleged undermining of Amotekun, the regional security outfit created to protect Yoruba land.
“There was some hope when our governors created Amotekun some years ago to resist the Fulani rampages, but Fulani people in control of the Federal Government have contrived the impotence of Amotekun,” Akintoye lamented.
“The Fulani terrorists are also becoming increasingly audacious in crimes and barbarism in our main cities.”
The Yoruba leader reiterated his commitment to the self-determination movement, urging Yoruba people to join him in the struggle.
“We are seriously pushing for the separation of our Yoruba nation from Nigeria. Our perception of the Nigerian situation is intellectually sound and realistic, and it is accepted by at least 80 percent of all our Yoruba at home and in the Diaspora,” he said.
Akintoye also referenced the challenges facing President Bola Tinubu, a Yoruba man, noting that despite his presidency, the security situation remains dire.
“Our kinsman who won election as President of Nigeria is being made to face ever-mounting harassment, including threats of military overthrow, wholesale regional rebellion, and even a defiant declaration of war,” Akintoye remarked, pointing to the broader instability threatening Nigeria’s unity.
