By BONIFACE AKARAH

A Yoruba self-determination group, Àwùjo m’lúwàbí, has rejected calls for a return to regional government in Nigeria, declaring that regionalism would not satisfy what it described as the Yoruba people’s ultimate aspiration for self-determination and sovereignty.

The group made its position known in a statement signed by its National General Secretary, Taiwo Odumosu, Esq., and National Organising Secretary, Professor Olakunle Folami, in which it said the Yoruba people should not be presumed to have accepted regionalism as a settlement to Nigeria’s constitutional challenges.

Àwùjo m’lúwàbí, which describes itself as a universal self-determination group for Yoruba sovereignty, acknowledged the achievements of the former Western Region, including free primary education, agricultural development, industrial investment, broadcasting and the establishment of public institutions.

However, it argued that those achievements demonstrated the capacity of the Yoruba people rather than proving that regionalism guaranteed sovereignty.

“Regionalism may be the preferred destination of some nationalities, but it is not the final aspiration of the Yoruba people,” the group said.

The organisation said Nigeria’s experience with regional governments showed that substantial regional autonomy could exist without the regions becoming sovereign entities.

It pointed to the constitutional arrangements of the First Republic, under which defence, external affairs, currency and significant security institutions remained under federal control. It also cited the 1962 declaration of a state of emergency in the Western Region as evidence, in its view, that federal authority could override regional autonomy during a political crisis.

The group said: “Regionalism therefore produced autonomy without sovereignty and responsibility without complete control over the institutions necessary to protect that autonomy.”

Àwùjo m’lúwàbí also argued that the creation of states after the regional era had not resolved what it described as the fundamental question of political control by Nigeria’s constituent nationalities.

It said the concentration of powers and resources at the centre had continued to encourage dependency, while the creation of states had fragmented historically coherent territories, including Yorubaland, without transferring what the group considers genuine sovereignty to the Yoruba people.

The organisation therefore rejected the idea that simply restoring regional structures would resolve questions surrounding identity, security, political consent and control of resources.

“Àwùjo m’lúwàbí therefore declares that regionalism may be the preferred destination of some nationalities, but it is not the final aspiration of the Yoruba people. A renovated regional structure that remains subordinate to federal authority would merely repaint the walls of an unsettled constitutional house,” the statement said.

The group said It considers the Yoruba to be a historic nation with a common civilisational heritage, related languages, distinctive cultural institutions and established traditions of political organisation.

It consequently called for an independent Yoruba nation, saying such a nation would have the authority to determine its own constitution, economic priorities, management of natural and human resources, security institutions, education and healthcare systems, as well as its relationship with other countries.

The group stressed, however, that its position should not be interpreted as a call for hostility or violence against other ethnic or religious communities.

“Our demand is not founded upon hostility towards any ethnic or religious community. It is a democratic claim to self-government,” Àwùj? ?m?lúwàbí said.

It added: “Independence does not require isolation, hatred or violence. It requires consent, negotiation, constitutional dialogue and an orderly democratic process through which the people may determine their political future.”

The organisation also called on Yoruba traditional institutions, professional bodies, intellectuals, workers, students, market associations, religious leaders, community organisations and members of the diaspora to begin what it described as a disciplined and inclusive conversation about the constitutional, economic and institutional foundations of Yoruba nationhood.

It particularly urged Yoruba youths to participate actively in determining their political future, arguing that they should not be left with constitutional arrangements developed for the political realities of the 1950s.

The group also challenged advocates of regionalism to stop presenting their proposal as though it had received the consent of every ethnic nationality in Nigeria.

“No coalition of political elites possesses the authority to determine the future of the Yoruba people without their freely expressed consent,” it said.

Àwùjo m’lúwàbí reiterated its opposition to violence, ethnic hatred and what it described as forced constitutional arrangements, insisting that its preferred approach was peaceful self-determination and democratic consultation.

The organisation concluded: “The future of the Yoruba people must be decided by the Yoruba people.”