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From Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
A self-determination group in Yorubaland, Oodua Redemption Alliance (ORA), under the leadership of Dr. Victor Taiwo, has said the struggle for self-determination for the Yoruba people in Nigeria should be embraced by both Christians and Muslims, in order to have a united front for the campaign, and to prevent religious marginalisation, peradventure the Yoruba Nation comes to reality.
He gave the charge in a speech, entitled: “Towards the Prevention of Future Crisis of Religious Marginalisation in the Yoruba Socio-Political Setting, which he delivered at a meeting with the Yoruba Islamic leaders on Thursday at the Bodija Estate Central Mosque, Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
The meeting was attended by Islamic leaders, including the Chairman of Muslim Community in Oyo State, Alhaji Kunle Sanni; an Islamic scholar, Prof Kamil Oloso, as well as representatives of Federation of Muslim Women Association of Nigeria (FOMWAN), National Council for Muslim Youth Organisation (NACOMYO), NASFAT, QUAREEB and Muslim Association of Yoruba Nation (MAYON), apart from Baale of Ekotedo, Elder Taiye Ayorinde.
According to Taiwo, the President and Founder, Oodua Redemption Alliance, “There is no gainsaying the fact that Nigeria was planted by the European colonialists who came down to divide us (Africans) among themselves as slaves purely for their economic purposes without any consideration of our cultural, ethnic, language, social and compatibility differences.
“These factors have eventually formed the base on which Nigeria was founded which have eventually culminated in the current ethnic, economic, political and social crises we are battling with in the country today. The climax of the absurdities eventually led to the consciousness of developing various ethnic fronts in Yorubaland as in other regions for the struggle of identity and self-determination of which this writer is a pioneer.
“Along the line of the groups developments in Yorubaland, some odious signals began to beam along the line in the name of allegation of religious marginalization. On the 26th of June, 2018, one of our Islamic activists held a press conference directly alleging the marginalization of the Muslims in the formation of Yoruba groups like Afenifere and Yoruba Council of Elders with strong assertions.
“And for all I know about Afenifere and for all I know about Yoruba Council of Elders of which I was the mastermind, I knew the allegations were purely unfounded in that nobody brings Yoruba organisations together on the basis or religion. Rather people join freely on the basis of free will and personal interest. Glad that I quickly came up to tackle the looming menace which might have snowballed into a big religious crisis in Yorubaland.
“My discovery along this line is that Muslims are the least involved among the adepts of other religions for reason, which I am yet to comprehend. Some patriotic Muslims must have realised this my discovery that they chose to establish a predominantly Muslim organisation for the Yoruba cause when they came up with an organisational identity known as Muslim Association of Yoruba Nation (MAYON) under the leadership of Alhaji Akeem Oladogba, whose tentacles have spread across the world. But in spite of the efforts of these patriots, the realisation is that the percentage of the Muslims’ involvement in the project is still as low as five per cent.
“Now the question is this: whether some people like it or not, whether they believe in it or not, whether they believe in the feasibility or not, suppose Yoruba sovereign country comes up tomorrow, and basically as it should be, the political office functionaries are chosen on the basis of participation, and only the five per cent of Muslims are engaged, would there not be protest of marginalisation from the Muslims? Gbaam! The billion-dollar question. Would they be fair to accede to the reality that they did not get involved in the risk and sacrifice of the freedom attainment?
“Thus, if only for the record, I have set it before myself to use my frontline position to make consultations with some highly responsible Islamic leaders to explain this situation to them in order to prevent future crisis. Hence, the culmination in calling this special meeting.”
The Chairman, Muslim Community in the state, Alhaji Kunle Sanni, and an Islamic scholar, Prof Kamil Oloso, expressed the fear of Muslims against self-determination on the grounds that the Muslims did not want to be enslaved in the proposed Yoruba nation and that careful thoughts should be given to mutual suspicions between Christians and Muslims, with a view to rising against them for the progress of Yoruba race.
