By Aare Kurunmi
To all Yorubas, your political leaders in the 1950’s-1960’s, built the first radio station in Africa, they built the first television station in the black world even before South Korea, France, North African countries and Apartheid South Africa.
Your leaders built industrial and farming estates in Ikeja, Oluyole, Ijebuland, Ondo, Ekiti, Oyo and other parts of Western Region.
Sky scrappers never seen before were built in the ancient city of Ibadan, Olympic standard stadium was built, the western Region House which was meant for people from the Western region was built in London (Now Nigerian embassy).
Qualitative and free education was provided for the children of the masses at a scale never seen before in the black world or even in the developed world.
The Western region was competing with the world not Botswana or South Africa. Malaysia and South Korea were coming to the western region to learn about Agricultural revolution and governance.
Civil servants in the western region had the highest minimum wage in subsaharan Africa but all this greatness brought hate and envy on us by our fellow countrymen who we called Zikists.
They made it a life long ambition to destroy the western region and it’s greatness if they cannot capture it politically and they did!
Once they saw that the western region was unstoppable in its progress and they have been shut out from politically colonizing it, they went through the hardway which was to conduct a bloody coup which purged political leaders from the North and West and not just that they unilaterally designed a unitary constitution and abolished true federalism and regional system of government that allowed the Yorubas to pursue their economic development without federal hindrances. They literally destroyed our lives and brought us to their level because of hate and envy.
The military boys who had no business in administration one after the other destroyed everything Awolowo laboured for. Western Nigeria Telivision, WNT, Obafemi Awolowo Univerity, OAU, Western House and other western Nigeria properties were nationalised in the name of Nigeria and our enem,:ies clapped for joy being able to economically and politically castra:te us within Nigeria with the help of some myopic individuals from other regions in Nigeria.
Fast forward to 2023, the western region now called Southwest is quietly rising from the ashes with the help of the last man standing Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the man of destiny who got away from the shackles of the cann:ibals and eternal enem:ies of Awolowo who wanted to weaponize the federal government to turn YORUBALAND and Yoruba people to serfs and slave:es within the Nigerian equation.
Like we did before, a South Western is the best economy in Nigeria and west Africa, has its own railway system, the South west has the best universities, Ogun state has the highest number of industries, Governor Sanwoolu performed a miracle by building a world-class seaport from the scratch without federal might, and quietly connecting the western region again as a powerful political, economic and technological hub.
As usual our rise has not gone unnoticed by our en:emies and they have devised orthodox and unorthodox means to destroy the Yoruba people again within Nigeria. Firstly, the hijacked a well intentioned movement called ENDSARS and turned it into operation burn down Lagos and operation capture Tinubu in 2020. Secondly, after they failed to achieve their said objective in 2020, they went for plan B, which was to politically capture Lagos from the Yoruba people and turn it into no man’s land and Gbarebo Shinedu a known hater of the Yoruba race, a Zikist, an Ojukwu lover, and anti Awolowo to the core was brought out to complete the conquest. As they were strategizing on the political capitulation of the South west they also supported their kinsman who is a known failure to sabotage the presidential pursuit of Tinubu, the man that got away in the A.D governorship class of 1999. They used mainstream Yoruba hate as a campaign tool.
They created an axis of hate against the Yoruba people. They rewrote our leaders, praised our tormentors like Abacha and called MKO Abiola a drug Baron. They sponsored political mercenaries to attack the Yoruba identity and denigrated the Yoruba women at a scale never seen before.
They attacked the peaceful and tolerant Yoruba Muslims non stop and turned the presidential election into a “CRUSADER” warfare just like in medieval Europe and they called on Yoruba Christians to turn against Yoruba Muslims in order to prove their Christian brotherhood to them. They failed this time and around and ever since then, Yorubas from great men of God like Pastor Adeboye, Pastor Kumuyi, Pastor Adefarasin and a host of others were attacked and humiliated like a commoner in the cyberspace and what was the sins of this Yoruba elders?
Their sin was that they didn’t join them in the “Holy” crusader warfare against Yoruba Muslims in YORUBALAND.
Just like their ancestors, they failed once again to politically annihilate the Yoruba people. Ethnic minorities who have no borders or historical grouse with the Yoruba people were recruited massively to hate us without any reason, yet we are still here, standing on the shoulders of giants (matyrs) who have gone before us.
This is my final take to all Yorubas. My fellow Yorubas, lend me your ears, you see all those great private universities in the Southwest, the Lekki seaport, Blue rail, Red rail, industries, Amotekun corps or anything we have rebuilt with our sweats and brains as Yorubas in Nigeria, can be taken away from us and heaven will not fall. They have done it before and they will try it again.
Dear Yorubas, we are at war! which is why every sane Yoruba man or woman must take the political space very seriously. A single policy by the federal government can de-industrialize YORUBALAND. A single policy and all those great assets from Dangote refinery to Lekki seaport can be nationalized by the federal government and we are d*oomed once again. Why do you think they were praising Abacha? Dear Yorubas, why do you think they were advocating for military takeover of Nigeria because they lost an election? We are surrounded by enemies in Nigeria.
They have done it before and they will do it again to DESTROY YORUBALAND.
This is the time for all Yorubas to think Yoruba First in Nigeria and defend our zone irrespective of religious differences.