The leader of the umbrella body of Yoruba Self-Determination Groups, Ilana Omo Oodua, Emeritus Professor Banji Akintoye, has endorsed the ongoing petition being pushed by the Nigerian Indigenous for Nationalities Alliance for Self-Determination (NINAS) for referendum.
Akintoye, in a statement made available to News Men on Wednesday June 23, 2021, called on all Yoruba people within and beyond the shores of Nigeria to sign the petition in order to aid the agitation for Yoruba Nation before the Nigerian Government and International Bodies.
The renowned Historian, who is also the Chairman of NINAS said in the statement titled “Towards Yoruba Nation Referendum”, that the petition for referendum is the first major step towards the conduct of a referendum that would make or mar the actualisation of sovereign Yoruba Nation from Nigeria.
“We, the Yoruba people must now move forward to accomplish our Yoruba nation’s self-determination by holding a referendum. A referendum is exactly like a regular election at which people line up at voting stations to vote for a candidate.
“In a referendum, we will not be voting for a candidate, we will be voting to make a choice on a given proposition. That proposition will be:
“I WANT A YORUBA REPUBLIC SEPARATE FROM NIGERIA?” “Each voter will be able to vote YES or NO. That is the Yoruba Nation Referendum.
“But we Yoruba need to take some steps before we can get to our referendum. The first step is to make a strong statement loud and clear that we Yoruba want a Referendum. The best peaceful way to make that statement is to circulate a PETITION among us that we want a referendum.
“Already, some patriots under the umbrella of NINAS have now started to circulate a Petition that we Yoruba, Igbo, Niger/Delta and Middle BELT want a Referendum.
“I urge all the millions of Yoruba people within and beyond Nigeria to vote in support of that Petition. Sign in the petition that you want a Yoruba Nation so what we can use the Petition supported by millions of us as a weapon to get our Referendum.
“We might use the Petition to pressurize the Federal Government (that is the National Assembly and the Federal Executive) to grant us our Referendum. However, the chances are that the Federal Government will answer no.
“Alternatively, we might take our petition to our State Governments and demand that they should grant us our referendum. Since our state governments are our own elected governments, we have a much better chance to compel them to do what we will want. What we will need is intense pressure persistently applied. We must not take no for answer.
“Finally, we can take our Petition to the United Nations and demand of them to come and arrange our Referendum. The United Nations has carried out referendums in many parts of the world. One such Referendum made it possible for South Sudan to break away from the Republic of Sudan. Another made it possible for Timor Les to break away from Indonesia.
“Therefore, our Petition supported by millions of us is a great weapon to get our Referendum. So, we Yoruba must all make a rush to vote for the Petition that is now being circulated by NINAS”, Akintoye, said.
