The truth is that the unconscionable oppressors that
constitute the Nigerian ruling elite and political
class and those at the top never see things clearly
until the explosion comes.
More often or not they are intoxicated by the opium
of power, they become deluded, they lose touch
with reality and they are blinded by the awesome
power that they wield.
And when there is a reaction to their tyranny,
arrogance and oppression and the call for
resistance and self-determination begins to gather
momentum, history proves that instead of reaching
out with compassion, love and understanding, they
treat their vassals and victims with insensitivity,
brutality, savagery and contempt.
Yet despite all one thing is clear: regardless of their
relentless opppsition and repression, when the time
comes, when the song of liberation beckons and
when the freedom bell tolls not even one million
misguided and bellicose Nigerian army
commanders can resist the restructuring or break
up of our country once it is clearly established that
that is what our people want.
The truth is simple and clear: you cannot force
people to remain together forever!
And if you really want them to stay together you
cannot treat them like animals. You cannot break
their hearts, wound their souls, bind their spirits,
shatter their dreams, abort their vision and
constantly make them shed tears.
You cannot abuse, threaten, kill, maim, incarcerate,
intimidate, insult, rob, humiliate, demean or cheat
them but instead you must show them love,
compassion and kindness and treat them well.
The Nigerian state has been callous, insensitive,
cruel, brutal, unjust and unfair to most of its ethnic
nationalities.
Throughout our beleagured history and over the last
56 years of our existence as an independent
sovereign state, genocide, ethnic cleansing, crimes
against humanity and indeed all manner of injustice
have been gladly adopted and employed by the
state as a lawful, legitimate and, I dare say,
acceptable means to keep our people in check and
hold them down.
Millions have been killed in the name of "keeping
Nigeria one" and many more have suffered.
This is especially so in the case of the Igbo, the
Niger Deltans, the Middle Belters, the northern
Christians, the Shiite Muslims and, to a lesser
degree, the Yoruba.
As long as this remains the case, if the country is
not restructured and if equity, justice and fair play is
not properly and adequately enthroned, eventually
the roof will cave in and Nigeria will crumble into a
number of pieces like a pack of cards.
And when that occures no man born of woman will
be able to stop it and neither will an army of one
billion hard-line and hard core ultra- conservative
dinosaurs who erroneously believe that it is their
God-given right and duty to keep Nigeria together
by hook or by crook regardless of the heartfelt
desires and freely-expressed will of the people.
It is a new dawn and today we are witnessing the
last kick of a dying Nigerian horse. Soon we will be
free and the tyranny, madnesss, sadness, tears and
shattered dreams that are the hallmarks of Empire
Nigeria will be gone forever. God wills it and so it
shall be.
Permit me to conclude this contribution by offering
a small explanation for my earlier assertion that the
Yoruba suffered in the hands of Nigeria to a lesser
degree than others.
I do not wish to in any way offend anyone or play
down the pure hell that the Yoruba have been
through in Nigeria for the last 56 years.
There are indeed many instances and examples of
injustice, indignity, shame, pain, suffering and
wickedness that we the Yoruba people have been
subjected to by those that believe that they own and
will always control Nigeria over the years.
However, as bad is it may have been, I believe that
there is a big difference between what we have
been through and what others have seen.
We suffered immeasurably as well but we had the
strength and wherewithal to fight back and survive it
rather well. We also flourished over the years
compared to others because we didn't need the
Federal Government or the Nigerian state for
anything in order to excel and to survive.
They murdered our leader Chief MKO Abiola, his
wife, the beautiful Kudirat and many others. They
killed Chief SL Akintola in the sanctity of his home
and in front of his family. They killed Brigadier
Ademulegun and his eight month pregnant wife.
They killed Colonel Francis Fajuyi because he opted
to stand by his leader and friend, the Head of State,
General Aguiyi-Ironsi. They jailed Chief Obafemi
Awolowo whose oldest son Segun was killed in a
car accident whilst he was in jail. They jailed
President Olusegun Obasanjo and quite a few
others. They detained and tormented Senator
Abraham Adesanya, Chief Ayo Adebanjo and
hundreds of others. They drove Professor Wole
Soyinka, Professor Adebayo Williams and many
others into exile. They destroyed the lives and
persecuted many but they never slaughtered us in
millions as they did to the Igbo.
They never killed over 100,000 of our people in
three months with cudgels and cutlasses as they
did to the Igbo all over the north during the
pogroms of 1966.
They never killed over 300 of our army officers as
they did to the Igbo on the night of the "northern
officers revenge coup" ofJuly 29th 1966.
They never denied us our right to life and to self-
determination and slaughter over 2 million of our
people during the civil war as they did to the Igbo.
They never starved one million of our young children
to death or confiscated our properties and left us
with only twenty pounds each after the civil war as
they did to the Igbo.
They never subjected us to ethnic and religious
cleansing or enslaved us and took our history,
culture, language, dignity and faith away from us as
they did to the Middle Belters and to the northern
Christians and minorities.
They never burnt down our homes, desecrated our
burial grounds, blew up our places of worship,
wiped out our communities and buried our dead in
mass graves as they did the Shiite Muslims.
They never took our mineral resources, plundered
our land, destroyed our environment, polluted our
rivers, stole our money, humiliated our leaders,
dehumanised our men, raped our women, bombed
our towns and committed genocide against our
people as they did to the Niger Deltans.
Yes we the Yoruba suffered too: we lost Ilorin, we
suffered remote-controlled carnage and fratricidal
butchery in the politics of the early '60's and the
early '80's, we lost many good men and women
during the June 12th struggle, we were relegated to
the status of second-class citizens over the years
and so much more but we managed to weather our
travails with dignity and even a shrug and a smile.
We were big, strong, resilient and poweful enough to
take whatever evil that was meted out to us and,
more often than not, we fought back and survived it
with our heads held up high.
In any case our collective oppressors were always a
little more careful with us when compared to others
because they were wary of the very real danger of
arousing the lion within us and kindling a raging
and uncontrollable fire in the Yoruba nation that
could well have burnt down the entire country.
Others ethnic nationalities were not so lucky: they
had their souls and the very essence of their being
sucked out of them. They suffered beyond measure
and some have been so scarred and broken over
the last 56 years that they may never recover.
These groups must NEVER forget what Nigeria has
done to them and neither must we.
The suffering of the Middle Belters, the Niger Delta
people and the Igbo particularly should be the fuel
for our collective quest for liberation.
The suffering of my Yoruba people through the
ages, though less when compared to that of the
Niger Deltans, the Igbo and the Middle Belters, acts
as a source of strength for me to stand up, to fight
on and to fight back.
I chose my words carefully and I meant them. The
suffering was relative and those of us that suffered
less than others ought to be able to acknowledge
the trauma, pain and wickedness that others were
put through by our internal colonial masters and
their allies.
We acknowledge this not to mock them or subject
them to ridicule but to honor them and to learn from
their horrific experiences. None of us must ever
forget and all of us must ask God for forgiveness
for the role we played in assisting and supporting
the butchers in the past.
Where we find blood on our hands we must
acknowledge that we did wrong and ensure that it
will never happen again.
The recollection of history is important. That is why
we must always set the record straight and make
all the fine points and distinctions.
We must never forget and, like the sons and
daughters of the proud Jewish State of Israel said
after the horrific genocide of the Nazi holocaust, we
must always say, "NEVER AGAIN".
May the Lord of Hosts forgive Nigeria for what she
has done to so many of her ethnic nationalities and
her own sons and daughters.
May the Ancient of Days deliver us all from the self-
appointed guardians and enforcers of Empire
Nigeria and may He effect His purpose and will in
our nation. Shalom. (CONCLUDED).
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