Coup attempt in separatist garb

Ibadan, the political headquarters of the Southwest, has a rich history. But that enviable background is scarred by the region’s monumental crisis of the First Republic from which it derived the appellation: ‘wild, wild West’. The ancient city remains till today politically volatile because of diverse interests.

Politics as interesting as it is can be combustible too. War, unfortunately, defined the region’s politics of that  era, following the leadership crisis that rocked the ruling Action Group in 1964. The crisis split the House of Parliament between supporters of the region’s first premier, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, and his successor, Chief Ladoke Akintola.

  Ibadan has yet to shake off this toga of trouble some 60 years after. On Saturday, the ancient city was on the boil again. This time, it was not as a result of a political crisis, but over the agitation for a Yoruba Nation! This separatist agenda was spearheaded by some elements who stormed the Oyo State Secretariat and the House of Assembly Complex close to it.

History was not about to repeat itself though, despite the misadventure which happened on the same grounds as that of the 1964 ‘peculiar mess’ (Penkelemesi). The House of Assembly now sits in the old Parliament Building where the supporters of Awolowo and Akintola fought bitterly. The secretariat hosts Governor Seyi Makinde just as it served Awolowo and Akintola in their own time. Awolowo had handed over to Akintola as premier to be opposition leader in Lagos.

The self-styled band of Oodua Nation Army that invaded this iconic monument in their bid to declare a Yoruba Republic are bad students of history. The place was not founded by the kind of rebellion they attempted to unleash on the nation. They should go back and read their history well. The Oyo State Secretariat and the Parliament Building are structures for the strengthening of democratic ideals.

They stand as monuments to a nostalgic era in the region’s political epoch. The invaders tainted this history by attempting to overawe that sacred place. Nationhood is not created by force or attained by violence. It takes sound reasoning, negotiations, systematic planning and political judgement for an aggrieved people to achieve self-determination.

Did these so-called Yoruba agitators call a meeting of the race where it was decided that they should separate (I refuse to use the more fitting word – secede – because of its negative connotation) from Nigeria before embarking on their suicide mission? They would have been killed for nothing because what they did was an attempted coup.

Yet, instead of showing remorse, they are boasting that they have no regrets for their actions. Whatever they are high on will soon wear off and their minds will become clearer. Their cause is unpopular and the earlier they know it, the better for them and their sponsors. One of their sponsors, Mrs Modupe Onitiri-Abiola, has taken to social media to praise them as well as herald the birth of a Oodua Nation!

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Which nation? Where? When? And how was it created? She is hiding in a video to engage in dangerous polemics, egging on some of the now arrested invaders not to capitulate. She and her ilk are daydreaming. If she really meant all the claims in her video, she should come out and prove the courage of her conviction. She cannot be in hiding and be using people, some of who should know better to push a separatist agenda that cannot stand.

Already, leader of Yoruba Self-Determination Group Prof Banji Akintoye and his ally, Sunday Adeyemo aka Igboho, have disowned her and the agitators. If they do not have the backing of Akintoye and Igboho, who have been in the forefront of this self-determination thing, on whose behalf are they then acting?

Let me reiterate that the pursuit of self-determination is not a crime when done legally. It becomes illegal when the agitators attempt to forcefully have their way as the Oodua ‘soldiers’ did. Where did they get the military camouflage, boots, arms and ammunition, cutlasses and other weapons that were seized from them? Are they aware that it is a crime to possess those items without licence?

They will stay long in jail after having their day in court for levying war on the country for no just cause. The attorney-general should speed up the process for their trial so that we  can put this sad event behind us in no time. As for Onitiri-Abiola, no stone should be left unturned until she is found and brought to justice.