By Julius Alabi, Akure
A socio-political group, the Oodua Action Movement (OAM), has pleaded with President Muhammadu Buhari to annul the forced 1914 amalgamation to pave the way for the Yoruba ethnic group to have a country of its own.
The group’s Global Coordinator, Otunba Demola Edward, in a letter to President Buhari, stressed that nothing would stop the Yoruba nation from attaining an autonomous status within or without Nigeria.
He said Nigeria as a country has been inhibiting the progress of the Yoruba, citing as example, the unbridled destruction of commercial interests of the Yoruba people through Central Bank initiated policies targeted at commercial interests of the Yoruba businessmen and women.
His words: “Wanton kidnapping, incessant killing and raping of women and girls by the Islamic fundamentalists (Boko Haram), the herdsmen invasion of the South West farmlands, and for the good measure, the silence of Your Excellency is suggestive of encouragement and complicity.
“Recall that in 2014, the purported 1914 amalgamation of the Southern and Northern Nigeria elapsed as agreed, after 100 years of cultural, educational, economic, spiritual, linguistic and social differences, defined in many perspective which made the relationship unmaintainable.”
According to the coordinator, the group is demanding for an annulment of the illegal amalgamation because after observing the regions being together for 100 years in forced relationship, as midwifed by Sir Fredrick Lugard in 1914 to augment the commercial interests of the British Empire that it has become apparent over the years that the three regions, the North, East and West cannot practically maintain the relationship any longer.
He argued that the Constitution of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) failed to provide for the determination of the relationship in any manner reasonable.
As way out, Edward said that there should be an urgent meeting between the Representatives or negotiators of the Western Region, the Eastern Region, the Mid-West and the North with the view to reviewing the best way for each of the regions to opt out, maintain their autonomy and develop at the pace appropriate to each region’s desire.
“We demand the President to set up a committee to look at the appropriate sharing of all assets, liabilities and other collateral issues,” he maintained.
The OAM Coordinator concluded that a date for the execution of a treaty of separation between the regions should also be discussed and agreed to at the meeting.