IBADAN- The National Leader of the Yoruba Self-Determination Movement, Professor Banji Akintoye, yesterday, intensified his call for separation from Nigeria asking South West Governments and Monarchs in the region to declare a Yoruba Unity Day.
Renowned historian Akintoye recently made a startling statement on Yoruba Unity Day, alleging that suspected Fulani bandits have killed at least 29,000 Yoruba people, and continue to commit atrocities such as rape and destruction of farmlands. He emphasized that the constant threats to life and livelihood have led him to believe that separating the Yoruba Nation from Nigeria is the only viable solution.
Akintoye envisions a sovereign Yoruba nation where security, economy, and cultural identity can be preserved and nurtured. This sentiment is rooted in the desire to protect the Yoruba people from ongoing violence and persecution.
Claiming that the Yoruba unity day was being celebrated in Ile Ife and Ibadan, he said: “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, 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 for the kidnapped, destroying farms, food barns and villages.”
Calling on the South West governors and traditional rulers to adopt the unity day as a public holiday, Akintoye said: “Obas, the fathers of our nation, should adopt this Yoruba unity day in their Councils of Obas in all our Yoruba States. I urge that our Governors, when they assemble in their Southwest Governors meeting, to adopt this Yoruba unity day for all our states.”
Akintoye’s statement highlights the growing desire for self-determination among the Yoruba people, with concerns about insecurity and cultural preservation driving this movement. He emphasizes that the push for separation is grounded in intellectual realism, not emotional or self-centered motivations .
On the creation of the security outfit, Amotekun, he said: “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. The Fulani terrorists are also becoming increasingly audacious in crimes and barbarism in our main cities.
