The Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG), has said the Yoruba nation would opt out of Nigeria if the current democratic dispensation fails.
This position was contained in the communiqué released on Wednesday as the outcome of the social discourse organised by the group to “sensitise and mobilise Yoruba voters” for the forthcoming general elections.
The communiqué, signed by the group’s National Chairman, Olawale Oshun, said: “Yoruba people would wish, as we are now, to be part of a democratic, well-governed and truly federal Nigeria, in all intents and purposes. However, we warn that if for any reason, Nigeria were schemed to become a banana and undemocratic republic, with the muzzling of its democratic institutions as demonstrated by this poll shift, and or if Nigeria were to be divided in any manner, we would as a people opt out to become a democratic nation as would be acceptable by our people.”
The warning is a response to “suspicious sinister motives” which led to the postponement of the general elections.
According to the communiqué, “the recent election shift is certainly not just about elections. We suspect that the postponement is about something more sinister, the first being that it might be grounds to prepare a soft surface for a sympathetic group within the Armed Forces to take over the reins of power, since in character and content there is little to distinguish the present rudderless government from the one that ruled in the Second Republic between 1979 and 1983.”
According to the communiqué, “Anyone who is thinking that the balkanisation of the country on the premises of North and South could be a way out should better think deeply. The Yoruba people would not be part of any such balkanised unit; it is definitely not one we would demand as a change. The change Yoruba people want and will vote for is good governance that guarantees freedom for all and life more abundant, one that secures our desire to develop our God-given potentials at our own pace as a people.”
The communiqué denounced those who, without regard for Yoruba’s principled resistance to bad governance, endorsed a profligate and inept administration and declared as “enemy of Yoruba people” those trumping religion as a factor of representation in the polity.
“As we march into another round of political experiment, the region must be ready to assert itself through its insistence on constructive engagement with all stakeholders on what we want as a people. We must insist on those values that distinguish us as ‘Omoluabi’. Yoruba people must no longer subscribe to inexplicable tardiness in realising our dreams for development. We must join others to discourage those who have turned politics into a full time job and only our best should be encouraged to come forward to represent our people,” it added.