Afenifere condemns invasion of Oyo House of Assembly by Yoruba Nation agitators

Apex pan-Yoruba socio-political organization, Afenifere, has strongly condemned the invasion of the Oyo State House of Assembly in Ibadan by some members of the Yoruba Nation agitators on Saturday.

Ripples Nigeria had reported on Saturday how some people who claimed to be Yoruba Nation agitators invaded the premises of Assembly at the Agodi Secretariat, Ibadan, chanting war songs and demanding the creation of a Democratic Republic of the Yoruba out of Nigeria.

The action led to prominent Yoruba leaders including foremost Yoruba Nation activist, Sunday Igboho, Gani Adams and a host of others coming out to condemn the action of the purported agitators.

Also condemning the invasion of the Assembly, the socio-cultural group, in a statement issued on Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Jare Ajayi, said those who invaded the Assembly did not act in the interest of the Yorubas whom they claim to be representing.

Afenifere insisted that there is no such thing as the Democratic Republic of Yoruba as requested by the group of invaders as the Yoruba nation is an integral part of Nigeria.

“Yoruba is an important component of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. And as is well known, there cannot be a sovereign republic within an extant sovereign republic.

“At the moment, Yoruba are indigenous in Ekiti, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, and Oyo States and in parts of Kwara, Kogi, Delta and Edo State of Nigeria, just as they are found in some other parts of the world”, the statement said.

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The statement added that though there are flaws in the way the country is being run, “solutions to the shortcomings do not lie in violent divisions but rather, what we should strive for is how the perceived wrongs in the country can be righted.

“Solutions to the shortcomings do not lie in violent divisions. Rather, what we should strive for is how the perceived wrongs in the country can be righted.

“How can a person or group of persons think that invading a State House of Assembly is tantamount to the creation of a Federal Republic?

“Genuine Yorubas normally think things through before they take actions, especially a fundamental action such as forming or declaring a nation. Yorubas don’t act that way. Rather, they apply wisdom and intellectualism in major steps they want to take. They apply tact.

“They demonstrate finesse and shun violence as much as possible. Examples of this attitude abound, going by their reactions to some major issues that occurred in the country in recent times.”

“Afenifere is of the strong view that President Bola Tinubu administration is taken steps to rejig Nigeria in a manner that would make the country become one that every citizen would be proud of soonest. Restructuring the country is a sure way of accelerating this.”

He went further to say that Afenifere strongly believes that when restructuring is effected with constituent entities allowed to be in control of their own affairs, Nigeria will become beneficial to everyone.

“This is why we are relentless in our agitation for Restructuring,” the group said.

The Afenifere therefore, called for a thorough investigation of the incident with a view to ensuring that perpetrators and those behind the scheme face the wrath of the law to serve as a deterrence to others.

 

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