“The Czech Republic and Slovakia engaged in their velvet divorce 15 years ago. Membership of the European Union has more than doubled since that date. It has been a fantastic two decades for those who make flags or sell maps but it has been a thoroughly confusing period otherwise. There are today, if one includes some of the smaller entities such as Andorra and San Marino, some 50 or more states in this continent.”   - TIM HAMES of LONDON TIMES commenting on the declaration of Independence of KOSOVO earlier today.

The quote above is an evidence of the wave of self determination that is sweeping across the continent of Europe. It is a testimony to the fact that nothing is stronger than the primordial loyalty and self governance. It is a proof that no matter how long a people was held in bondage, freedom will always come. It is a testimony to the fact that among the peoples of Europe, globalization has no effect on the desire to have one’s own country.

Today, as I celebrate the birth of the Kosovo nation and congratulate the Kosovo people for their tenacity and victory, one is seizing this opportunity to call on other peoples of the world who wish to self determine to wake up and grab their destiny. I am particularly calling on my Yoruba people to begin to think of their own country and begin to work towards it. It is time for the birth of OODUA NATION.

One of the dangers for a public events analyst is to flow with the current of emotions, when facts on a particular issue points to a different direction. Despite the inherent dangers of predicting public events and the course of History based on what History itself has taught us, it is still an alluring adventure especially when the facts of the situation remains stubborn as in Nigeria’s case. But the fact that the Yoruba nation will be born would not have been a prediction along this line. This is because it is part of the natural course of events that will come to pass. And very soon too!

Despite the advancement of science and technology and the beauty of globalization, nature is the best propeller of regionalism. Nature as in your natural environment with the full right to determine how you want to live your life, without any outside power or influence raising any concern explains why there will be the Oodua Nation, why Biafra will be born again why other nations entangled in Nigerian quagmire will be free eventually and why Kosovo became free as a NATION today against all odds.

The OODUA nation must begin its journey to fruition right now. It is time for the leaders of Yoruba nation to begin coalescing and start to put in place the philosophical underpinnings of the Yoruba nation state.  I am aware that there are fears. I am aware that there are concerns. I am aware there are nay Sayers. I am aware that there are arijenimodarus that can only survive in the Nigerian context and would work to undermine our dream. I am aware that there are internal and external enemies of the Yoruba nation who would rather see the Yoruba in perpetual subjugation to the Nigerian state. I am aware that the journey will not be easy. BUT I AM CONVINCED THAT IT IS UNSTOPPABLE.

Even the United Nations General Assembly in its resolution A/RES/61/295 of October 2, 2007 has contended inter alia:

“Concerned that indigenous peoples have suffered from historic injustices as a result of, inter alia, their colonization and dispossession of their lands, territories and resources, thus preventing them from exercising, in particular, their right to development in accordance with their own needs and interests,

Recognizing the urgent need to respect and promote the inherent rights of indigenous peoples which derive from their political, economic and social structures and from their cultures, spiritual traditions, histories and philosophies, especially their rights to their lands, territories and resources,

Recognizing also the urgent need to respect and promote the rights of indigenous peoples affirmed in treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements with States,

Welcoming the fact that indigenous peoples are organizing themselves for political, economic, social and cultural enhancement and in order to bring to an end all forms of discrimination and oppression wherever they occur…”

As a student of history, one of the major lessons I have learnt is that no empire or amalgam can hold another race of people in bondage forever. This is why empires fall. It is why Nigeria will fail. It is why OODUA nation will be born. There is nothing like having your own country with your own people. Artificial countries like Nigeria never survive for ever. Such countries may survive for some time, but eventually, the power of primordial attachment and loyalty always overcome. The powers to self determine our future will prove too strong. The power to be free will not and can not be ignored.

United Kingdom has had a great History. It once upon a time ruled over the greater part of our world. But today, this proud history means nothing to the Scottish, the Welsh or the Irish who have been part of that History one way or the other. This History is not a factor in the desire of these peoples to have control over their own destinies. That country, the United Kingdom that engineered the amalgamation of the Nigerian behemoth is breaking down!

As far as I am concerned, any worry about the Nigerian mess is a waste of time. One discusses the Nigerian issues nowadays with a distant emotion. This is because it is an exercise in futility. Nigeria can not work. My concern right now is the future of the Oodua Nation that will soon be given birth to. This is because it is a natural course of events for Oodua nation to become a reality, no matter the obstacles, no matter how long it takes.

Even then, the issue now for me has gone beyond the inefficiency of the Nigerian state as a Country. The issue now is no longer about the corruption of the ruling class. It is no longer about the unfulfilled dreams of Nigeria. The fact now is that if Nigeria was paved with gold on its streets, in its houses, in its hospitals, in its market places and even in its toilets, it will still not matter to me anymore. In my view, it is time for the Yoruba Nation to be born. As Osagyefo Kwameh Nkrumah once said “Ask ye for the political kingdom and all other things shall be added unto thee.” Freedom and independence is the fullest of all richness. It is the best that this present generation of Yoruba leaders will bequeath to our future generation.

The birth of the Yoruba nation has become inevitable. I know that some are going to pooh-pooh this as illusions. Others will deride this. Some still will attack and call names. Often, those who do not understand the force of history can only see illusions in an idea that is in tune with nature and whose time has come. As the write-up below culled from the London Times attests to “If anyone had predicted in these pages in February 1988 that the atlas would look as it does now, they would have been dismissed. The notion then that Kosovo would become an independent nation would have been regarded as laughable.” Please read the full story:

February 18, 2008

Another day, another country for Europe

The transformation of the map of our continent

Tim Hames

In this season of extraordinary American politicians, it is worth remembering one who, albeit accidentally, put his finger on the upheaval that has been Europe over a century. Strom Thurmond sat in the US Senate until shortly after his 100th birthday in 2002. In his final stretch in that chamber he was a prominent member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Towards the end of the 1990s the committee was hearing testimony from the Hungarian Ambassador to Washington. After he had spoken, the senator apparently took him to one side and whispered: “When I was at school, you and Austria were one country, when did the two of you split up?” It had been eight decades earlier.

Before that divide much of Central and Eastern Europe was controlled by the German, Russian, Austro-Hungarian or Ottoman empires. It is a geography quite unrecognisable from the Europe of today, and one that will change again as Kosovo declares its independence and becomes the seventh member of the former Yugoslavia to become an established nation.

The dissolution of the Soviet Union brought forth six states broadly acknowledged to be part of Europe, four others whose status is more contestable (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Kazakhstan) as well as the dilemma of where to place Russia itself.

The Czech Republic and Slovakia engaged in their velvet divorce 15 years ago. Membership of the European Union has more than doubled since that date. It has been a fantastic two decades for those who make flags or sell maps but it has been a thoroughly confusing period otherwise. There are today, if one includes some of the smaller entities such as Andorra and San Marino, some 50 or more states in this continent.

It is tempting to conclude that all this change is simply the impact of the end of the Cold War upon one half of Europe. Yet this would not be accurate. The shock has been more subtle west of what was once the Iron Curtain but no less substantial.

It has led to the rise of regionalism in Italy via the Northern League. It has produced radical devolution in Spain, not only to the Basques but the Catalans and the Balearics. Belgium cannot divine whether it is one, two or three countries. In the United Kingdom, it has produced serious devolution in Scotland, a semi-detached Northern Ireland and a more autonomous Wales. Even Germany, which would seem the exception, is actually more fragmented in many respects and both economically and politically weaker as a consequence of unification.

Perhaps the only sizeable nation in Western Europe that appears culturally comfortable within its borders is France - and even there many observers would contend that tensions have been exacerbated in the past 20 years.

It is a paradox of politics that while small convulsions often prompt massive comment, more seismic shifts pass by almost ignored. That is the case for Europe. If anyone had predicted in these pages in February 1988 that the atlas would look as it does now, they would have been dismissed. The notion then that Kosovo would become an independent nation would have been regarded as laughable.

Yet such a prophecy, while seeming wild, would not have been ridiculous. If one looks at the maps of Europe over the centuries - best set out in Norman Davies's incomparable Europe: a History - what is striking is the trend of that cartography.

Over time, two very different sorts of Europe can be identified. One is of a “micro-Europe”, a continent with a large number of small, independent states, some of which are so tiny as to be almost illogical; the other is a “macro-Europe”, where there is a smaller number of larger states, either explicitly through empires or implicitly via the kind of domination that the Soviet Union held over its nominally “free” allies in the Warsaw Pact.

The story of Europe since the fall of the Berlin Wall has been one of yet another reversion from macro-Europe to micro-Europe. And significantly, this may prove to be a durable transformation. Macro-Europe developed as the result of outright force or the threat of conquest. Micro-Europe is what seems to occur if armies are left out of the equation. We live in what is a natural mosaic of a continent. If the various Balkan conflicts that led to the break-up of Yugoslavia were, as there is reason to hope, the last destined to happen on our soil, then more micro-Europe rather than less of it is surely to be the pattern of the future. If Gibraltar, for instance, is not to be a British dependency 50 years hence, then it is less likely to be submerged into Spain than evolve into a new form of Monaco.

This momentous move from a macro-Europe to a micro-Europe prompts one over-arching question that few across its political elite care to address at this moment. Its implications for the European Union should be seminal, but political leaders seem unwilling to acknowledge this candidly.

For the EU is, in many respects, a rather tragic institution. The macro-Europe vision that its founders had for it made eminent sense, to be fair to them, in the 1950s. Not merely the legacy of the Second World War but the need to compete with the Communist bloc made supra-nationalism an appealing concept. In the context of a micro-Europe, though, the model appears desperately outdated.

The new Europe that has emerged so suddenly demands something closer to a modern Hanseatic League than a Brussels-based one-size-fits-all formula. One last fact sums up the scale of what is taking place around us. In the many years that passed from when Senator Thurmond was at school to when he died, the map of the United States was amended but twice when Alaska, then Hawaii, achieved statehood.

With Kosovo, like Montenegro before it in 2006, departing from the jurisdiction of Serbia, Europe's increasingly complicated atlas has altered twice in fewer than two years.

Robot  Villager

# 1 The fact now is that if Nigeria was paved with gold on its streets, in its houses, in its hospita...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 18.02.2008 15:42

planet1899  Villager

# 2 Sorry, there is no such thing as Yoruba Nation, just the Nigerian nation under which the Yoruba Nation MUST exist. It has no choice. Posted by planet1899| 18.02.2008 16:46

tonsoyo  Villager

# 3 Thanks a million. Nigeria as a nation has failed. I am more than convinced that several new autonomies will be born out of that contraption called Nigeria very soon. It could be regional or fully independent nations, but the days of that entity known as Nigeria as constituted today are numbered. This is the natural course of events unfolding in Nigeria today. Posted by tonsoyo| 18.02.2008 20:46

Ochi Dabari  Villager

# 4 Planet 1899, You are wrong; Nigeria is not a nation but a country. Rather, there is a Yoruba nation, just as there are Igbo, Hausa, Fulani, Birom, Idoma, Kanuri, Ijaw, Urghobo, and all the many nations that have been forced into forming the country called Nigeria. I am sorry, I didn't have the time to read the entire article. Where the writer may have missed a point is in not recognising or identifying the opportunity that was offered to the Yoruba to become an independent nation about 41 years ago. That point in time was when Awo agreed with Ojukwu to pull the Yoruba out of Nigeria, if the Igbo were departing. Unfortunately, Awo did not go through with his plans, and rather opted to work with Gowon (working for the Hausa-Fulani at the time), to kill the Igbo dream, and along with it, the dreams of many other nations that are being held in bondage today. Many would ask me, who is holding the nations in bondage, but we all know the answer. Illegitimate govts have helped to chain the people down. And I mean all the people, not just the Ijaws or Igbo or Yoruba. Even the Hausa-Fulani are being chained to a nation they do not want to belong in. Each nation displays its displeasure in different ways. The Hausa-Fulani, for example, would like all the infidels (non-moslems) out of their area, and they show this by a yearly orgy of killings. We have all kinds of national armies fighting for independence around the country. I just wonder when we could sit peacefully and split. May be when the oil runs out. But we are not being sincere to the people of the Niger Delta - what resource will they live on when the oil runs out, and the other nations move to their lands to manage their own resources? It is time to end the selfishness and think seriously of giving independence to all the nations. Assertions like Nigeria being THE nation won't help. ochi If =planet1899;4294989826>Sorry, there is no such thing as Yoruba Nation, just the Nigerian nation under which the Yoruba Nation MUST exist. It has no choice. Posted by Ochi Dabari| 18.02.2008 21:09

apanajare  Villager

# 5 =planet1899;4294989826>Sorry, there is no such thing as Yoruba Nation, just the Nigerian nation under which the Yoruba Nation MUST exist. It has no choice. Planet 1899, You sound like what the Yoruba will call "amunisin" meaning enslaver. In our history, we know how to handle people like you who wants the rest of us to live their selfish dream. I will not suggest that your statement shows a shallow understanding of what makes a "nation." But I will inform you that you do not have the locus standi to tell the Yoruba people that they do not have a "choice." Even the author who is a protagonist of this view of an independent nation do not. It will have to be the collective voice of the majority of the Ypruba people. Only the Yoruba people will determine what they want. If creating their own country is what they want, nothing will be able to stop them. It is all about their desire. And if they truly want it, it will only be a matter of time before they get it.n Just look around yourself. It is evident that the forces of history could not be held in bondage. Posted by apanajare| 18.02.2008 21:52

Obi  Villager

# 6 Remi, You said, "Such countries may survive for some time, but eventually, the power of primordial attachment and loyalty always overcome. The powers to self determine our future will prove too strong. The power to be free will not and can not be ignored" Yes, in the wake of the crushing of the Biafran war of independence, there was this fear to even mention the name Biafra, but all that have changed within this short time frame. It further underscored the power to be free as you rightly said. I rejoice with the Kosovo Albanians. Theirs was a struggle that began 100 years ago. Their violent approach to it was defeated in the mid nineties by the stronger and tyrannical Serbs who had lorded it over them. But now, the non-violent leadership of their late leader, Ibrahim Rugova has finally paid off. Remi, I'm of the opinion of an autonomous Nigerian regional structure. Such which may be witnessed in writing by the UN. Autonomous regions brought progress in the past. As can be seen from the achievements of the leaders of that era, there was a healthy competition among them to be the best. What I'm saying is that the reasons why some of us may be uncomfortable with this one-Nigeria thing was our inability to move from a non progressive, feudal-like leadership to a sound and encompassing political system, and the inability of the present unitary system to deliver a sound national economy. If I could recall, It was during Abiola's incarceration that shouts of freedom came out loudly from the Oodua nation. I fear It may again take an Abiola-like scenario before noises of the nature you desire began to be heard in the Oodua nation. Even at that, an Obasanjo-like emergence would quell it. Leaving people like you disheartened. However, keep the hope alive. Posted by Obi| 18.02.2008 22:04

slay  Villager

# 7 like i said, the worst in who we are...the tribalist; the destroyers! they cannot build therefore they destroy! should we then split into the, over, 200 ethnic groups in nigeria?should there be an efik nation, an ijaw nation, a tiv nation, a kanuri nation? how about the unique idea of one united nation? has the writer ever met anyone from kosovo?from albania? i have! i actually spoke to one today...speak to them before yoy espouse your simplistic, tribalistic diatribe! get over it, its called nigeria, if you don't like it, get out! those that have never seen war always ask for a fight...those have have seen war just "looku and lafu"!!! Posted by slay| 18.02.2008 22:15

Agidimolaja  Villager

# 8 Ochi Dabari, Once again, pls allow me to disagree with you over your assartion that Yorubas were offered the opportunity 41yrs ago but Awo failed to make do on his promise to lead Yorubas out of Nigeria. Only God knows where the likes of you got these type of very dangerous lies from.I heard such blatant lies several times from Igbo pedlers and misinformed ones; that Ojukwu was the one who released Awo from jail on the condition that Awo should go home and declare Yoruba Republic but when Awo got home he failed to do so.Liars upon liars have been pedling in various lies and those of us who know the truth are greatly disturbed and sicken to the bone over these reckless lies. But let me ask you few questions.When was Awo released from jail?Was it before or after the establishment of Biafra?At that meeting where Awo made the promise;who and who were present?Where is the minutes of the meeting and papers jointly signed to that effect? Let me tell you that Awo was released from jail on third of August 1966 by Yakubu Gowon,the then Head of State.That was about nine months before Biafra was declared and about eleven months before the war started. Ojukwu was then the Military Governor of Eastern Region.As a military Governor of a region he had no power to set free a Federal Government detainee as the East was still part of Nigeria then.Plus, as at the time of Awo's release,hostilities that led to the declaration of Biafra have not commenced,only that Ironsi was declared missing then along with Fajuyi. The only time Awo came to meet Ojukwu was when tension became so high and Biafra declared.Awo was sent by Gowon to come and persuade Ojukwu to give up the idea of Biafra. Awo led a delegation to the East,he did not come alone by himself.When was it then that he met secretely with Ojukwu and entered into an alliance.Remember that Awo was Gowon's emmissary to Ojukwu.Will he then abandon his mission and entered into another agreement with Ojukwu?Awo will not do that.There was no any kind of agreement entered by Awo. Credible Igbo authors like Alexander Madiebo,Benard Odogwu,Ben Gbulie and even Ojukwu himself in their books did not make mention of such an accord.They ought to, if in truth an accord was reached. As for your perception that Yorubas were offered an opportunity;let it be known to you and the likes of you that Yorubas needed no opportunity of that kind from Igbos.The truth remained the same that if Yorubas would declare their own republic,we would do so with no assistance from outsiders like Igbos who have never be on our side nor helped us in our days of troubles.It is a Yoruba mission and we are quite capable of doing it our own way. 41 years ago we needed no Republic of our own because we were not ready for one then and we were not faced with similar ordeal as Igbos.We lost a number of Yoruba leaders but over 50,000 of our people were not slaughtered as was the case of Easterners.Furthermore,as at then,Eastern region was fully in the hands of Easterners.The West however was garrisoned by mean-hearted Northern soldiers.Ibadan,Abeokuta,Lagos and Ikeja were all fully loaded with Northern troops that refused to leave despite all pleadings that they should be moved out of our land as was the case in the East.How then can we declare a Republic as at then?No way! Yes, Awo joined Gowon's government.Was he wrong?No!When Shagari pardoned Ojukwu and he returned back from exile what did he do?He joined Shagari's NPN party and contested an election and won as a Senetor. Did Zik not abandon you all in the heat of the civil war and joined Gowon's government and started spitting fire and brimestones at Biafra?Yes,he did. When Ironsi came to power ,Awo wrote two letters to him whereby pleading for his release.What did Ironsi do?He ignored him and continued to do so until his grave suddenly recieved him.What Ironsi refused to do despite Awo's persistent pleadings was what Gowon did less than twentyfour hours in office.So,what did you expect Awo to do?To abandon Gowon and team up with Ojukwu?Impossible! When Biafra was bringing war to us in Yorubaland,were we contacted ahead of time?Was our approval sought? The point is that we needed no Igbos to liberate us after all we were not chained down.The fact is that we Yorubas know when to run,we know when to walk and we know when to stayput. As for Remi Oyeyemi's submissions,pls don't dismiss it with a wave of hand.It may happen.Yoruba Republic may one day emerged from the present day dilapidating and epileptic so called Nigeria.It happened in USSR and it happened in United Kingdom.It happened in Pakistan and it happened in Czechoslovakia.It may happen in our own case too.It just happened in Kosovo as it happened in Ethiopia. Posted by Agidimolaja| 19.02.2008 01:52

Caeser  Villager

# 9 =slay;4294989894>like i said, the worst in who we are...the tribalist; the destroyers! they cannot build therefore they destroy! should we then split into the, over, 200 ethnic groups in nigeria?should there be an efik nation, an ijaw nation, a tiv nation, a kanuri nation? how about the unique idea of one united nation? has the writer ever met anyone from kosovo?from albania? i have! i actually spoke to one today...speak to them before yoy espouse your simplistic, tribalistic diatribe! get over it, its called nigeria, if you don't like it, get out! those that have never seen war always ask for a fight...those have have seen war just "looku and lafu"!!! There is nothing simplistic and tribalistic about assessing a problem and facing the reality of your assesment. Your discussion with a single Kosovan hardly captures the the moving spirit, the energy, the reason, the internal consensus/support for their independence. It does not take a soothsayer to know that Nigeria is not working, has never worked and will not work! Make no mistake, Nigerians want Nigeria to work. We have all tried in our different ways to make it work but to no avail. Even the chief protagonists of the Biafran seccession bid wanted Nigeria to work, tried to make it work and only decided to pull out when they perceived that the subjugation and decimation of people of Eastern extract was being orchestrated by northerners according to a script written by their elites ,who dislike the 'children of the rising sun',- hard enough to slaughter and enslave them but still refuse to let them go. Only a fool would want to live in his own country as a second class citizen, groveling for titbits from the table of your fellow citizens who contribute nothing to the economy yet believe that ruling is their birth right! Look at the Niger delta and the impoverishment therein. Are they not Nigerians? The much touted wealth of Nigeria derives from their land but what do they have to show for it than abject poverty, disillusion and a cycle of violence that no one seems to know how to stem. The Nigerdeltans are arguably worse off today than they were when oil was first discovered in their lands- with the large scale pollution and its attendant sicknesses that would be intolerable in any civilised Country, how can these people be blamed if they decide to go their way? One could go on and on. Endemic corruption, failure of leadership, domination by one geopolitical zone, centralization of power etc,Nigeria is like a marriage in the throes of a breakdown. It will be a sign of maturity for the parties to assess and appreciate the reality of their situation and call it a day with a smile and a handshake than to wait till the s--t hits the fan then go down with a lot of unsuspecting and undeserving victims Posted by Caeser| 19.02.2008 02:07

RAYNOSA  Villager

# 10 One thing i don't understand is how long are we going to be a follow-follow/copycat Nation. Must we wait for events to take place in other Nation before we take certain step as people,Someone suggested in an article on this forum that PAT UTOMI is likely to be the new face of BARRACK OBAMA in Nigeria.(wereas Pat Utomi had his election and chance before Obama) Now its the Yoruba Nation as the new Kosovo,from all indication its very clear we still don't know what we want as a Nation. To me the Yoruba people/Nation failed this country Nigeria. Nigeria ought not to be were she is today if the Yoruba's have maintained/improve on the standard they set for the Nation. These are people(Yoruba's) that pride themselves to be the first in almost every sphere of life in Nigeria.Yet they still brought the Nation backward. I won't be wrong if i refer to these bad eggs amongst the Yoruba leader as "OMO-ALE". There can never be anything like the Yoruba nation. Let compare Nigeria to the United Kingdom,the Scottish,Wales,English and Northern Ireland are different entities under one Kingdom they have different laws and currency(though)with the same value.Can't we borrow a leaf from them. Those agitating for the split of Nigeria are nothing but gang of thieves they are just doing this to enrich themselves not that they have any genuine intention for the Nation.One last thing what happen to the various anti-military/pro-democracy group that insisted on civillian regime. If we have Yoruba Nation today take glance to some of her prominent leaders 1.Chief Lamidi Adedibu 2.Chief Aremu Okikiola Obasanjo 3.Chief Alao Akala 4.Senator Omishore 5.Bode George 7.Ahmed Tinubu 8.Fayose The list is end-less with other fighting for suprimacy in this clique. Now let us be very objective a Nation with leaders with very high and credible profile(irony)will this Nation succeed. YES or NO Thanks Posted by RAYNOSA| 19.02.2008 06:15

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