Top shot of the All Progressives Congress, (APC) Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu and Yoruba should be very careful in walking the tight rope brought by the new alliance with the Hausa-Fulani North.
In a statement issued by the Oodua Nationalist Coalition, (ONAC), the Pan-Yoruba group said it suspects that as soon as the April 11 election produced Gen Mohammadu Buhari, the core North will seize the momentum to reassert Northern domination through the sustenance of values to have kept Nigeria in the backbench.
The group commends Asiwaju Tinubu and the Yoruba leadership for the strategic thinking of edging PDP out of power, saying that the defeat of the PDP at the centre was not as a result of the large number of votes, but due to the technical skill and surgical prowess of the Yoruba elite, its media, its think-thank, its international networking, which produced the huge number of votes for Buhari in the first place.
“While we respect the decision of the Yoruba people to oust the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) from power, we are also aware that this will not automatically translate into a new order that reflects the deep aspiration of the generality of Yoruba people. The PDP castrated the Yoruba people since 1999, but it is also an illusion to expect the new alliance with the Hausa-Fulani North to produce fundamental changes”, ONAC in a statement signed by its Deputy Director of Public Affairs, Dr Olubodun Adaranijo stated.
The group stated that the Hausa-Fulani sees Nigeria as a farmyard owned by its caliphs, where other ethnic groups are mere tools, adding that the recent support from the Yoruba will not change this agelong mindset. He said the alliance will soon collapse under the weight of irreconcilable historical differences that were not thoroughly weighed by the Yoruba leadership, but hurriedly swept under the carpet for parochial electoral gains.
ONAC said that President Jonathan, being an Ijaw had the best opportunity to form a honest and credible alliance with the Yoruba people towards laying a new foundation of self determination for Nigeria, but that he rather sought compromises with the Yoruba visionless rejects while at the same time fomenting draconian policies that deliberately isolated the Yoruba elite and commons alike. He paid dearly for this error.
ONAC said that for many people in the core North, Buhari’s regime means the return of undeserved perks and privileges of the Hausa-Fulani oligarchy. Gen Buhari will be helpless in the face of the pressure and onslaught from the Emirs and the largely reactionary Hausa-Fulani North.
“We won’t be surprised that the new alliance won’t last beyond the next 12 months. Largely, the new power equation is akin to the Northern Peoples Congress, (NPC) and the National Party of Nigeria, (NPN) returning to power. Buhari is just an individual. The Northern oligarchy has only used him as a pawn in the game of getting power back to them. If he tries to stop them from continuing the old order, they will sacrifice him”, ONAC said.
Adaranijo cautioned that though it is certain that Gen Buhari’s government will carry out changes in the fight against corruption and provision of energy, however, these changes, he affirmed will remain a fleeting illusion unless the Yoruba becomes an independent Republic and “our territories are governed by our values and civilization.”
He said “Yoruba must not be carried away by momentary alliances of civilizations that are violently opposed to each other. We should not submit to a system that paints us as underdogs and unequal partners. We must work doggedly for a political and economic foundation that will endure all generations. We are over 50 million people. The attainment of Oodua Republic is the surest path to our sustainable development.” (Iroyin Oodua).