The misguided invasion of Oyo State Assembly: Matters arising
Oyo Assembly
The invasion on Saturday, April 13, of the Oyo State House of Assembly premises with the apparent intention to seize legislative and other powers by the self-designated ‘Democratic Republic of the Yoruba’ is a grave breach of Nigerian law. Beyond that, the incident should serve as a reminder of the inherent disorder in the Nigerian polity, and the urgent need to redress this through political restructuring into a true federal entity.
The extant constitution is clear on such matters as stated in Chapter 1, Part 1, Section 1(2) that “The Federal Republic of Nigeria shall not be governed, nor shall any person or group of persons take control of the Government of Nigeria or any part thereof, except in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution.” To this and other extents, this misguided pursuit of self-determination by unlawful means is both unjustifiable and condemnable. Nigeria is a country under the rule of law, imperfectly as it may be. The right to protest is granted in local law; even the right to peacefully pursue self-determination by due process by international law. In this country, aggrieved citizens have a right to ventilate it but, under the extant system, through established civil and peaceful procedures.
It is gratifying that the heinous act reportedly described in some quarters – the Committee for the Protection of People’s Mandate (CPPM)’s Nelson Ekujumi and the Oyo State Government – as an act of terrorism, has been condemned by even persons, high and low, who have actively but peacefully pursued a similar end. Leading proponent of the idea of a Yoruba nation-state, Prof. Banji Akintoye has been reported to dissociate his group from the method of the invaders. ‘There is no need for us to go violent. We are not part of the violence that anyone is propagating. Everything we do must be peaceful,’ he said. An Afenifere faction insisted that those who recourse to the illegal step did not act in the interest of the Yoruba people; the Yoruba Council of Elders (YCE) did not mince words to describe the act as unwarranted, dastardly and barbaric. So too the Yoruba Leaders of Thought (YLT) maintained that ‘Yoruba has never been for the separation of Nigeria but [for] its success.’
The Oyo State incident throws up many questions as to which ‘constituted authority’ must address its mind. First, if well-known Yoruba groups dissociate themselves from the invasion of the Oyo State Assembly complex, who then does the group represent? Second, who funded the planning, recruiting, organising, kitting – uniform, flag, and other symbols of – and arming with bulletproof vests and pump action guns of about 50 citizens without prior awareness of the Nigerian security intelligence? How could it be that such a large group moved through the streets of Ibadan city un-accosted up to their destination?
It is reported that a house in Ibadan (now demolished by the Oyo State authorities) owned by a key proponent of Yoruba separation, one Modupe Onitiri-Abiola served as a storehouse for arms and other paraphernalia. Why was this not discovered earlier? Deriving from these, it is not unreasonable to perceive an embarrassing failure of intelligence in the state security system.
An attempt to take over the lawmaking arm of government is not only a grave violation of the Nigerian constitution, but it may also actually constitute an act of terrorism. The Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022, in Section 2(3) defines an “act of terrorism” as “an act wilfully performed with the intention of furthering an ideology, whether political, religious, racial, or ethnic and which …seriously destabilises or destroys the fundamental political, constitutional, economic, or other social structures of a country or an international organisation… influences a government or an international organisation by intimidation or coercion.’
As commentators have observed, an attempt to take control of the government by unlawful means is a treasonable offence that carries very severe punishment.
The emergence in the southwestern part of Nigeria of the ‘Democratic Republic of the Yoruba’ and other groups with similar objectives, albeit with different tactics, speak first about deep-seated dissatisfaction with Nigeria as presently structured and governed. Besides the disruptive activities of the Indigenous People of Biafra and the Eastern Security Network (IPOD/ESN) in the eastern part of the country, in the northern part, Islamic and ethnic terrorist groups have a field day kidnapping, killing and maiming people in pursuit of sinister aims. Second, that there are armies of able-bodied youths available to recruit, arm, and deploy for separatist ends can also be explained by the high rate of joblessness and poverty in the land. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported a five per cent level of unemployment in rural areas in the third quarter of 2023. In the urban areas where educated and exposed youths reside, it was six per cent. In the same period, the NBS said that the combined rate of unemployment and time-related underemployment, as a share of the labour force, rose to 17.3 per cent. If, as the saying goes, idle hands are the devil’s workshop, then these young men and women with a real and urgent ‘hierarchy of needs, can only snatch at any offer however sinister. This speaks about the terrible failure of governance in the land.
Failure of governance, or put more clearly, failure to manage the affairs of Nigeria in a manner that assures the security and welfare of the people, must be laid squarely at the doorstep of the political class. Increasingly, this elite group entrusted with the control of the awesome machinery of government shows itself to be so self-seeking as to lose both sense of self-control and focus on the primary purpose of its constitutional assignment. This is reflected in discontent and brazen criminality north and south, east and west.
A few days after the Ibadan incident, gunmen invaded the Ilejemeje local council secretariat in Ekiti State over some communal matter. It is trite to say that signs of a failing state include the absence of security for the citizens, insurgency and other acts of criminality, political and economic corruption, and decaying outright absence of critical infrastructure.
It is glaring that this federal republic does not function optimally as it should, nor does it serve the highest good of the greatest number. There is wide agreement among reasonable people that it is a federation only in name and this must be urgently redressed. Nigeria can be stronger, and better under collectively agreed federating terms. The Guardian unequivocally demands as a matter of principle, that this country be restored to true and proper federalism with decentralisation of powers, in line with global best practices of such structure and system of government. This is the inevitable antidote to the increasing spate of separatist agitation that threatens the corporate existence of the country. To delay is dangerous and it is up to the political class to do right and save Nigeria – or do nothing.
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