The Ilana Omo Oodua, said the agitation for self-determination “shall be bloodless, intellectually rooted, legally grounded”.
This comes a day after Ondo State governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, dissociated his state from calls for the secession of the South-West from Nigeria.
The Ilana Omo Oodua, led by a renowned Professor of History, Banji Akintoye, countered Governor Akeredolu as he said the Governor only spoke for himself, and not the good people of Ondo State.
The Ilana Omo Oodua, is the umbrella body of Yoruba Self-Determination Groups within and beyond the shores of Nigeria.
In a statement by its Messrs Kunle Adesokan and Folashade Olukoya, the group challenged Governor Akeredolu to allow it hold its planned one million man march in Ondo State “without unleashing the instrumentalities of terror and state-sponsored commercial thugs on the masses of the state that desires an autonomous Yoruba Nation”.
The statement reads: “We wish to say very clearly that Akeredolu is entitled to his opinion. He has only spoken for himself. If he is sure he speaks for the classical masses of Ondo State, he should ensure that his armies of state- induced terrorists allow us to stage our one million march peacefully in Akure, Ondo State capital to prove whether he spoke for Ondo state people or for himself.
“Akeredolu feeds 100% on the commonwealth of Ondo State people. He is a member of the tiny neo-liberal and neo-classical elites who will never support the wishes and aspiration of the masses. We saw how he grandstands on the terrorists and murderous herdsmen illegally occupying the forest reserves in his state and we saw how he chickened out to the chagrin of all of us who staked our reputation to defend him. Akeredolu has now surrendered the farm lands in Ondo State to the government of Fulani herdsmen while masquerading to be participating in National Livestock Programme. He is a definition of a coward who starts a battle he cannot finish. We are aware he traded Ondo people off to avoid being sacked from office. We are saying for the sake of clarity that what we declared is the sovereignty of Yoruba Nation from Nigeria, and not secession from Nigeria. We want an autonomous Yoruba Nation. We want to determine how we want to govern our people. We want to control and manage our resources. We want to police and secure the lives and property of our people. We have made our position known. Our agitation for autonomous Yoruba Nation is legally grounded, intellectually rooted and it shall be executed without shedding of blood. Akeredolu cannot sit inside the comfort of his office and claim to be speaking for the people of Ondo State that he has failed to regularly pay their monthly salary, pension and gratuities”.
