The Yoruba Self-Determined Movement (YSDM), in a letter to President Muhammadu Buhari has called for what it describes as a “peaceful break away” of Yorubas from Nigeria.
The chairperson of the group, Banji Akintoye, stated this in the group’s letter to the President that a large number of Yorubas desire to move out of Nigeria because of the overwhelming hardship they are facing.
The group gives reasons for their call
Also a professor of History, Akintoye said the Yoruba leaders have since the 1950s requested that a session clause be added in the Nigerian Constitution but was overruled by the colonialists then.
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Part of the letter reads “Mr President, the Yoruba Self-Determination Movement now serves you notice of the decision of the Yoruba people to assert their right to self-determination, which right of self-determination is an inalienable and unquestionable right of every indigenous nation in the world.
“Upon asserting this right of self-determination, we Yoruba nation shall be free to determine our political status, pursue our economic, social and cultural development according to policies chosen independently by us, and to live under the government independently chosen and ordered by us.”
Adeyemo’s call for Yoruba secession from Nigeria is said to have gained popularity in the Southwestern part of Nigeria due to the continuous killing of Yorubas in the South-west region by suspected herdsmen.