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From Oluseye Ojo (who was in Cotonou, Benin Republic)
The leader of the Yoruba Self-Determination Movement (YSDM), Prof Banji Akintoye, has said the struggle to get Yoruba nation carved out of the present Nigeria is still intact, and not in disarray. He made the disclosure on Friday during an interview session with some select Nigerian journalists, at the Yoruba National Office, Sègbeya Nord, Cotonou, Benin Republic.
According to him, “We are not in disarray. What is happening among us is natural. Our young people want their country now… Our duty is to let them know that we have to make some arrangements before we get there. We are not in disarray at all, and we are making progress.”
Akintoye apparently spoke on the report that he has dumped the Ilana Omo Oodua (IOO), which is an umbrella body over all Yoruba self-determination groups, for the Yoruba Self-Determination Movement (YSDM).
He explained that IOO remains the umbrella body over all the self-determination groups in Yorubaland, saying the YSDM came up to coordinate strategic mission of all the self-determination groups, including Yoruba National Fund, just like in Israel, where they have Jewish National Fund, for Jewish important projects. The Yoruba National Fund, he said, would be used for important and legal goals of the Yoruba across the globe. Akintoye stated that the YSDM would create expert committees in six strategic areas, apart from having a general council for the Yoruba self-determination struggle. He added that each of the self-determination groups would have two representatives in the council, irrespective of the size of the organisation.
Fielding questions on the ambition of a Yoruba man, and a former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, who is the 2023 presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Nigeria, Akintoye, said there’s nothing wrong in it.
