A Yoruba group named “The Youths of Oduduwa Republic” in Lagos has warned the Igbo living in Southwest to watch it, saying they are sick and tired of what they described as generational threats of the Igbo over their secession agitations.
The youths wondered that for all the years their fathers had kept quiet over the Igbo attitude as though they did not realise the enormous damage it had caused them as if, according to them, the Igbo were doing them any favour by cohabiting with them, occupying their their space and enjoying their resources to the point of dominating their political arena.
The group spoke through a statement dated June 7 and signed by its secretary general.
Although no Yoruba leader has thrown his weight behind the group’s statement but it is on record that Igbo of Lagos started running in troubled waters with their host community when they threatened, in connival with People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the buildup to the 2015 general elections, to take over the political and traditional space of Lagos State, leading to Oba of Lagos Rilwan Akiolu 1 threatening them with a curse that they would die in Lagos Lagoon if they worked their talk.
The youths group’s statement read in details:
“In view of recent events in the political space called Nigeria, we, the youths of Oduduwa republic occupying the geographical space called South West of Nigeria hereby categorically state without any reservation that we are sick and tired of the generational threats of the Igbo extraction of this forced union, to go their separate ways in what they call Biafra.
“In this threat we were born, in this threat we’ve lived our lives and if care is not taken, in this same threat our children will grow up and give birth to their own children.
“It is unfortunate that our fathers do not realize the enormous damage they do to our personalities and confidence by keeping quiet all these years making us look like the Igbos are doing us a favour by cohabiting with us, occupying our space, enjoying our resources and even to the point of dominating our political arena.
“OUR GENERATION MUST END THIS NONSENSE.
Without wasting time in going to the details of the issues, as the whole world knows too well where we are coming from, where we are and where we are likely to end up, we wish to make it abundantly clear that we shall no longer tolerate the madness of the Igbo region intimidating, harassing and defrauding the Yoruba nation with their empty calls for Biafra.
“As from today, the 7th day of June 2017, any mention of Biafra again on our soil will automatically, without recourse to any other warning, earn the Igbos an eviction notice from all of the six states that form ODUDUWA REPUBLIC namely, for the avoidance of doubts, Lagos, Oyo, Osun, Ogun, Ondo and Ekiti.
“We shall within three months of such act of agitation for Biafra do everything possible to chase the Igbos out of our land so we all can leave in peace and regain our dignity as human race.
“If you are my wife or my husband and every morning you wake up, you threaten to divorce me, one day, no matter how gentle and loving I am, I will get tired of your threats and accept your proposal, that exactly is the stage we are now. But note that you cannot divorce me and still insist you want to live in my house or keep occupying my space.
“You cannot divorce me and still insist on sleeping with me forever, it cannot just work. You divorce me, you go your way and allow somebody else who values me, who will not be abusing and cursing me everyday of my life to move in and occupy the space. It’s just common sense.
“It should be noted that we are not by this declaration asking the Igbos to leave our space, however, the choice is theirs.
“If you want to live within the ODUDUWA REPUBLIC, you must henceforth shut up, shut down your agitation for Biafra, respect us as a people, your loving and accommodating hosts and choose to live in peace with us, otherwise, any three months from the time you carry out any Biafra activity again, we will make sure you vacate our land.
“The fact that our fathers have tolerated this nonsense for ages does not make all of us stupid, Oduduwa lineage is never a cowardly race, we only don’t react intuitively, even the Igbo race should know by now that everyone has been pushed to the wall and if you think this is an empty threat, we dare you to dare us.
“We are using this medium also to call on all Nigerian citizens of Yoruba extraction living, working or sojourning in any part of the Southern region of the Nigeria to, as a matter of urgency, begin to make a relocation plan.
“Home is home, nowhere else is better than home. Please do not allow this time bomb to catch you unawares.
“Most of the people parading themselves as Yoruba leaders will not take any proactive steps now because their children and family members are not in any of those areas, they are rather scattered all over the US and Europe so be careful in listening to their assurances of nothing will happen.
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“Your destiny is in your hands, if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere else but your life first.
“In conclusion, we call on all political, social and religious leaders in Nigeria to prevail on the Igbos to either stop talking about Biafra or immediately begin to relocate to their country as we will not be held responsible for the consequences of their action or inaction henceforth.
“This declaration goes for any tribe, region or group of people that cannot stand our gut on our soil.
“A word is enough for the wise..” the Yoruba Youths said rounding up the statement with a hashtag: “#NoToDivision #YesToOneNigeria”
With the latest development coming from the Yoruba Youths, it appears the Igbo’s overdoing has hit its limit as every other region is now poised to check them pointing to them that they have no monopoly if disturbance. A respondent told The DEFENDER Saturday night.
“Note that the North, whether the governors and the emirs support or not, have made a bold statement to the Igbo. Enough is enough! That is what it means. Now that Yoruba are beginning to speak out like the North against the Igbo, what will happen is that, Igbo will never have its so called Biafra because the Nigeria, taken over by President Muhammadu Buhari they so much hate and for whose reason they are doing this, was not in pieces. It will not be in pieces when he will be handing it back at the end of his four or eight years tenure,” he said adding that it will be in the best interest of the Igbo to stop their hate-infested secession agitation so they don’t remain the leftback in the Republic of Nigeria.
