Actualise Oodua Republic to immortalised Odumakin . COSEG leader, Olokooba urge Yoruba.

 COSEG MOURNS YINKA ODUMAKIN -Says it is a reminder that nothing is more important than adhering to principles

 The Coalition of Oodua Self-determination Groups (COSEG) has described the passing of the spokesperson of Afenifere Comrade Yinka Odumakin as a terrible blow to the Yoruba Self-determination movement, but also as a reminder that nothing is more important as adhering to principles at all times even in the most unfavorable circumstances. This is contained in a statement issued in Lagos by the Convener of COSEG Comrade Razak Olookoba.

According to Olookoba, Yinka Odumakin represented a rare breed of activists with background in the Marxist students movement who was able to creatively apply his ideology to the conditions of his people. Yinka Odumakin’s exploits in the June 12 Struggle days and his subsequent unapologetic and unflinching commitment to the cause of the Yoruba and the rest of oppressed peoples and nationalities in Nigeria attest to this.

He was a dogged fighter, a destroyer and scourge of all backward and anti-democratic ideas and builder of commensurately progressive ideas and platforms for the advancement of the people’s condition of existence. He was fearless and puts the overall interest of the people over and above unprincipled political correctness. His prowess in this regard was accentuated by his ability in exactitude, articulation and timeliness in responding to issues.

His specific contributions to the Yoruba Agenda, to the forging of a common front at the 2014 Confab, building of bridges with the peoples of South South, South East and Middle Belt in almost two decades cannot be easily forgotten. Equally noteworthy is that He was not among people to be called All Governments in Power, neither was he noted for jumping ship for mundane reasons. He believed the ship of principle could weather any storm, no matter how imperiled.

According to Comrade Olookoba, the greatest way to immortalize this illustrious Yoruba self-determination leader is to redouble the effort to free the Yoruba from the annihilatory trappings of the Nigerian neocolony – a struggle for which our brother and comrade sacrificed his all.

Reuben Abati " treasonable felony" gibberish, a paid template to arrest Prof.Akintoye ,others

 DR. REUBEN ABATI

ARISE TELEVISION

FCT, ABUJA.

Friday April 2, 2021

 

Dear Dr. Reuben Abati,

RE: YORUBA SELF DETERMINATION AND TREASONABLE FELONY

Not being in high mood for pleasantries, please permit me the latitude to abbreviate greetings under the usual Nigerian euphemism: ”All protocols observed.”

I saw a shocking video of your recent morning show on ‘ARISE NEWS.’ In that panel discussion, the current agitation for Yoruba self-determination was at issue. You claimed, with such menacing passion that Nigeria has been particularly kind to the Yoruba more than any other race. You labeled the peaceful and legitimate agitation of a people for self-determination as a crime and called the vocal few representing popular agitation as people committing ‘Treasonable Felony.’

I react to this provocation, one, to correct the use of the word kindness and substitute wickedness of Nigeria to the Yoruba.  Two, to discourage other intellectual mercenaries before they are recruited to spread toxic propaganda that can fracture our current unity. Three, to warn Yoruba elites that this ‘treasonable felony’ idea you float on air may be one message passed through you to soften the ground for nebulous action against Professor Banji Akintoye, Chief Sunday Igboho and their associates. My fear is that this may be a prelude to actions aimed at arresting, incarcerating, harming and God forbid, killing some of these agitators.

I do not intend to embark on deep character observations, but I believe it is in order, dear Dr. Abati, to find out where your case file with EFCC stands at this time. For, one recalls, from the Sahara Reporters story of October 24, 2016 that you were arrested for money laundering to the tune of N50 million naira in October 22, 2016 or thereabouts. I wonder if you have settled, and how, for, we observe that you have not been harassed since your release. I hope you are not being squeezed to do the bidding of Government as they prepare to confront the Yoruba agitators using some of our people.

In explaining your conduct to the people, I believe these derivatives would be close to accurate as I have interpreted the sense in my own words. You said something to the effect that:

 Nigeria has been especially kind to the Yoruba than most other groups within the union and therefore have absolutely no cause to complain but the Yoruba insist that Nigeria has viciously degraded their progress, dented the future of their generations and consigned the career of their citizens to hopelessness. You premised this false ‘kindness’ narrative under the following:

·      The Yoruba control the economy. An absolute falsehood. The control of the Nigerian economy is in the offices of Alhaji Aliko Dangote and Abdulsamad Rabiu, both Hausa Fulani. And this happened recently under the patronage of your Egba kinsman, General Obasanjo, continued relentlessly under this regime through waivers, import licenses and tax holidays to these two almost exclusively. And having been in Government, obviously, you know why. 

·      The gradual decomposition of the position of the Yoruba in the Nigerian economy has been deliberate and consistent particularly under Generals Abacha, Obasanjo and Buhari. Name one Bank controlled by the Yoruba today. How about the oil and Gas and other major sectors of the economy? The Industrial and financial sectors typical of Yoruba wizardry have since been sabotaged through various Government efforts at emasculation. Your assertion is absolutely false and you know it. 

·      The Yoruba has produced Presidents twice, and currently own the Vice president. Correction please, the North has produced three Presidents of their choice from Yoruba proxies guaranteed to serve and preserve their interest and privileges. General Obasanjo twice, Ernest Shonekan and you are right, the current redundant member of Government, Vice President Yemi Oshibajo who does not know how to work for them, and therefore is as powerful in that regime as I am in Lagos State. 

·      You refer to the election of MKO Abiola. But forgot or failed to remember that Abiola belonged absolutely to them until they found him unsuitable to the cause they wanted to chart. MKO Abiola was their bulldog used to harass, torment and bite Chief Awolowo into impotence. Is it not curious, dear Dr. Abati, that most of these minions and slave drivers of their people appear, like you to be Egba elites who care little for the poor people of Egbaland and even less for the Yoruba tribe? Chief Justice Adetokunbo Ademola, Egba Prince sealed the fate of Awolowo and helped Ahmadu Bello consign him to prison, Obasanjo frustrated the ambition of Obafemi Awolowo and thus denied the people of Nigeria exemplary leadership. True to type, Shonekan did same to MKO Abiola and denied us of knowing how things would have been. And here you go again, helping them to plot the downfall of this legitimate agitation. Why so?

·      You even said that the Yoruba have been well served Dr., I have not been served at all. I know you have? 

·      Yet there is a dangerous dimension to your words. The shout out to the Fulani government that proponents of self-determination have committed the crime of ‘Treasonable Felony’ is terrifying. It is disturbing because it would appear to many to be designed by those who want to arrest and incarcerate the likes of Professor Banji Akintoye and Sunday Igboho in order that they can intimidate the rest of us and stop the tide of independence. By the way, while you call for the Government to charge these patriots with felony, what call are you now suggesting for Miyetti Allah, their killer herdsmen and the leaders who fuel and fund them? How about the Northern group, Fulani Nationality Movement, FUNAM, which owned up to attacking with intent to kill a serving Governor, Ortom of Benue State? 

It would appear that plans are in place to arrest and charge Professor Akintoye and Sunday Igboho while using Yoruba professional press legionnaires to test the waters and make it appear that a crime has been committed. It is a well appreciated fact that the Fulani are experts at baiting a minion monkey with a ripe banana in order to catch the head monkey.

It is important that you either eat up your words and apologise, to show the public you are not party to a conspiracy or remain silent and pray that no harm comes to Yoruba leaders of this movement.

Yours sincerely

FRANCIS OJO

Calling agitation for Oodua Republic a declaration of war is a "curable ignorance"-Soetan

 Calling agitation for Oodua Republic a declaration of war is a " curable ignorance"- Soetan.

Why are activists running away from their agelong slogans?

But why are some prominent activists and many June 12 emergency progressive politicians now running away from the campaign by ethnic groups for self determination in Nigeria? The slogans and demand for sovereign national conference (SNC) and fundamental right of ethnic groups to self determination as legitimate right were the most popular demands during the military regimes and aftermath of June 12 criminal annulment by Babangida regime. Right of ethnic nationalities  to self determination is legitimate and still valid till today and it may not die soon. 

"Self-determination is act of a particular people or an ethnic group to exercise its sovereign right to become an independent state and to decide on the form of state (including the system of government)" 

"By virtue of the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, all peoples have the right freely to determine, without external interference, their political status and to pursue their economic, social and cultural development"

I am yet to see any prominent activist of my generation and our elders who had not raised the banner of sovereign national conference and supported the right of ethnic nationalties in a union to self determination, to remain in the union by mutual consensus on the basis of democratic referendum or to exit the union.

So, what has changed and what is your  alternative if you are abandoning all you used your youthful and adult life to campaign as a liberal democratic right. 

I remember that I was the person that (late) Chief Gani Fawehinmi sent to the  national assembly to distribute our (NCP) publication on Sovereign National Conference to Senators and Representatives in Abuja.. And many popular organizations and ideological movements had their publications too on the same undying issues through books, press statements, communique and the like. 

If many of us decided to abandon the barricades and preferred  the confererence rooms, seminar communique, television appearances, the barricades would be taken  over by aggrieved citizens of different ethnic groups who have legitimate right to demand for nations within nation or secede.

We may not like the faces or their multifaceted tactics, errors of strategy or strategy of errors of the champions, but we cannot walk away or pretend there is no  resurgence of ethnic consciousness due to bad governance, government's obvious provincialism and insecurity which escalated it, and weakness of radical and revolutionary forces to challenge the bourgeois class, defeat its divisive tendency along ethnic and religious divide and unite the masses and working class along programmes of common interest. 

I think the least we can do is to demand for a national, regional / ethnic referendum as a step forward.

You don't expect the present crop of political bandits in power that are united across parties, ethnic and religious divide when power is the dinner to yield to any demand for right of self determination by willing  ethnic nationalities in the country. The constitution that says "We the people.." is a lie without referendum of the people to authenticate it. 

Slogans are not for fun or for applause, don't say it if you don't mean it to be tested  by you or people who are recipients of your demands and slogans in the ways they like to interpret it and demand for it. 

I only pity those who are still mesmerized with the military catchphrase of "Nigeria's unity is non-negotiable". Nothing is non-negotiable even slavery and "holy marriage from heaven". In fact, Where's the unity that's not negotiable. And those who still wrongly think that  demanding for self determination peacefully by ethnic groups, a legitimate universal right, as a declaration of war need to be sympathized because they are glaringly displaying curable  ignorance. They need to be sober and read the UN charter on ethnic self determination.

It is those who want to face the agitators with guns that would be declaring war on people's right and sovereignity.

At the end of the referendum, it may even surprise the agitators that majority of their ethnic groups members  want to stay in Nigeria but  on renewable terms of mutual respect and rights, control and autonomy.It may also shock the gunpoint nationalists that many ethnic groups are fed up with union.

Lastly, the unity of the working people is not determined by geographical lines or artificial boundaries  but by their oppressed  condition of living  / working and the need for liberation collectively, regionally and globally without frontier.