The Leader of Ilana Omo Oodua Worldwide, the umbrella body of the Yoruba self-determination struggle, Professor Banji Akintoye, on Saturday, declared his intention to return to Nigeria.
This is following the arrival of Yoruba nation activist, Sunday Adeyemo, popularly called Sunday Igboho, to the country last Wednesday.
The PUNCH reports that Akintoye has been in self-exile since the incarceration of Igboho in Benin Republic.
He made this known during a reception held in honour of Igboho’s late mother, Sarah Adeyemo, which took place at Sekinat Hall, Soka area in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
Akintoye announced this through his spokesperson, Gani Alagbala, who came from the United States of America.
He said, “I am highly fulfilled as a Yoruba to witness the victory of Igboho and his eventual return to Nigeria after a long battle with the authorities. I can now return to Nigeria.”
In his remarks, Yoruba nation activist, Adeyemo alleged that some anti-democratic forces were plotting to destroy democracy in Nigeria.
He also accused the immediate past President, Muhammadu Buhari of allegedly laying ‘landmines’ for Tinubu’s administration through dismal management of Foreign Exchange, failure to tame the menace of farmers/herders clashes and insecurity that have precipitated the current hardship being faced by the masses.
He said, “When Buhari was mismanaging the nation’s economy and overlooking the attacks on farmers in the North and South, I raised the alarm, but nobody supported my agitation. The spiralling effects of such bad governance and treatment of sensitive security issues fueled by herders/farmers clash with levity by Buhari is what is happening now.
“If Nigeria cannot work following the inimical activities of some powerful forces, we are still on our peaceful agitation for the Yoruba nation. We cannot stand aloof and allow some criminal elements to kill our fathers and able-bodied men eking out their living on the farms and contributing to the food productivity in the country. Enough is enough.
“We would no longer tolerate the killing of our monarchs, kidnapping, and other vices in the South West by herders and bandits.
“Now prices of foodstuffs, items, and other agro-allied products are not within the reach of the common man because a majority of our farmers have abandoned farmlands. I shouted then, but I was a lone voice in the forest. Now we are all facing the dire consequences of our seeming complacency.
“We need to be very careful and not pander to the antics of anti-democratic forces planning to pull down the administration of President Bola Tinubu. It is crucial at this point in time to support measures by the Federal Government to solve these challenges, whose foundation was laid by the immediate past administration of Buhari.
“I foresee all these problems some years back. Buhari had surreptitiously laid landmines for Tinubu’s administration in order to deliberately create problems for him. The Yoruba ethnic group holds the ace in Nigeria in terms of our potential and contribution to the nation’s development. Other ethnic groups are also key to the unity and socio-economic growth of the country.
“The British government forced this marriage of inconvenience called Nigeria on us. But we are calling on President Tinubu to allow the restructuring of Nigeria if we all want to continue as a nation. We urgently need restructuring and true federalism to ensure peace and harmonious coexistence in Nigeria as a nation.
He noted that he could not criticise Tinubu because he had nothing against him. According to him, It wasn’t Tinubu that ordered the Department of State Security (DSS) to invade his house “killing my uncle and my friend. They also went away with their corpses and refused to release their remains up till now,” he said.
Adeyemo added, “We dared Buhari over the lording of his tribe on the rest of Nigeria and he was not comfortable with my stance and that is why he ordered the DSS and personnel of the Nigeria Army to attack me, destroying my property worth millions of naira. I am back now. If the DSS needs my attention, they can send an invite to me through my lawyer, Pelumi Olajengbesi.
“I’m a law-abiding Nigerian. I won’t go to them in Abuja. I know the governors of the South West, including my host governor, ‘Seyi Makinde, Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu and Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State will not allow any act of lawlessness and impunity to be perpetrated against me.
“I have not committed any offence. Rather, my right to freedom and fundamental human rights to life and freedom of association as guaranteed in the constitution were grossly trampled upon.”
