Leader of the Yoruba Self-Determination Movement, Banji Akintoye, has reiterated the group’s unwavering commitment to the establishment of a sovereign Yoruba Nation, insisting there is no turning back on the quest.
Akintoye, speaking with Punch on Monday, revealed that approximately 60 million Yoruba people worldwide support the movement’s cause.
“We are not going back. We must leave Nigeria, or our nation will perish,” Akintoye stated emphatically.
He added, “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.”
UK Government Response
Akintoye disclosed that the movement had written to the United Kingdom government about its agitation, receiving an acknowledgment that the matter 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.
“But we have got a general kind of acknowledgment that our letter was being attended to. We got the acknowledgment 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,” he explained.
Panic Within Nigerian Government
In a separate letter to the Nigerian government requesting a peaceful breakaway, Akintoye claimed the movement had evidence that the communication had unsettled authorities.
Akintoye said, “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.”
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