Prof. Banji Akintoye, the National Leader, Yoruba Self-Determination Movement (YSDM), on Monday said President Bola Tinubu is facing threats of military overthrow, wholesale regional rebellion, and defiant declaration of war.
He made the disclosure at the celebration of the end of war in Yorubaland, also known as Kiriji, which ended 138 years ago. The treaty that ended the war that lasted for about 17 years was signed on September 23, 1886.
The programme, tagged: ‘Yoruba Natiobal Unity Day’, organised by the IDANDE Organisation, and Yoruba Regional Alliance (YRA), was held QRS Associate Hall, Moremi Estate, Ile-Ife. It was attended by Yoruba people from Osun, Oyo, Ogun, Lagos, Ekiti, Ondo, Kwara, Delta, Edo and Kogi States.
His words: “Our kinsman who won election as President of Nigeria is being made to face ever-mounting harassment, including threats of military overthrow, threats of wholesale regional rebellion, and even a defiant declaration of war.
According to Akintoye, who was represented by Prince Ademola Adekunle, “I boldly and humbly urge our whole Yoruba nation to adopt this day, the 23rd day of September each year, as Yoruba Unity Day.
:I urge that our Obas, the fathers of our nation, should adopt this Yoruba Unity Day in their Councils of Obas in all our Yoruba States.
“I urge that our state governors, when they assemble in their South West Governors’ Meeting, should adopt this Yoruba Unity Day for all our states.
“I urge that our Obas, who happen to be in states, where the Yoruba are only a small minority, should adopt this Yoruba Unity Day for celebration together or in their palaces every year.
“I urge that our Yoruba Obas in states where the Yoruba people are a substantial population should adopt this Yoruba Unity Day and celebrate it together annually in one of the Yoruba cities in their state.
“I urge that the Yoruba governments of our states should set this Yoruba Unity Day apart every year for our school children to celebrate in the ways that school children used to celebrate ‘Empire Day’ in British colonial times.
“I urge that we Yoruba should adopt this Yoruba Unity Day as a public holiday exclusively for our Yoruba people in the context of Nigeria.
“When we Yoruba take these steps and joyfully celebrate our Yoruba Unity Day, every year, we shall find that we are celebrating something bigger and higher than a unity day; we shall find that we are celebrating the unity of our Yoruba nation as one people.
“We shall be celebrating, promoting, and enhancing, the spiritual unity of our Yoruba nation. And we shall also be honouring the memory of the great warrior heroes and royal heroes of our past.”
The President, Federation of Yoruba Consciousness and Culture, and Chairman, Idande Omo Yoruba, Bashorun Adekunle Adesokan, called for conferment of special status on every September 23rd in Yorubaland.
