THE OYO FORUM IN FCT ABUJA ORGANISED A GRAND RECEPTION/DINNER IN HONOUR OF HIS IMPERIAL MAJESTY
OBA AKEEM ABIMBOLA OWOADE 1, THE ALAAFIN OF OYO
16TH May, 2025
CONTINENTAL HOTEL, ABUJA.
THE OYO FORUM IN FCT ABUJA ORGANISED A GRAND RECEPTION/DINNER IN HONOUR OF HIS IMPERIAL MAJESTY
OBA AKEEM ABIMBOLA OWOADE 1, THE ALAAFIN OF OYO
16TH May, 2025
CONTINENTAL HOTEL, ABUJA.
PRESS CONFERENCE BY CHIEF AYO ADEBANJO, LEADER OF AFENIFERE, ON THE 26TH OF SEPTEMBER, 2022, 11:00AM,
AT WHEATBAKER HOTEL, IKOYI, LAGOS STATE.
WHY AFENIFERE SUPPORTS SOUTH EAST PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE FOR 2023 PRESIDENCY.
Before the political parties conducted their primaries, a journalist asked what is my view about the 2023 general election? I answered and said the country should be restructured before the general election, and he followed up by asking if there should be an election, which zone should the Presidency come from? And I unhesitatingly said, of course, the South East
I took my time to explain that the presidency is not a contest between the Yorubas and the Igbos and to a large extent I was able to convince many.
But ever since social media has been filled with comments tending to ethnicize the campaign instead of making it issue-based.
Afenifere has therefore decided to address you today and through you educate the public on the ideological and equitable principles which have influenced our decision.
Let me state here for the benefit of those who may not know that Afenifere is the Yoruba interpretation of the social welfarist ideology of Action Group, a political party founded by Chief Obafemi Awolowo and his colleagues in 1951 with strong advocacy for federalism as the best form of government to give the federating units the requisite autonomy to thrive and peacefully compete among themselves for the ultimate development of Nigeria.
The system was eventually agreed to by our founding fathers, Sir Ahmad Bello, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, and Chief Obafemi Awolowo, and endorsed by the Colonial Secretary, Sir Oliver Littleton in 1954 and embodied in the 1960 independence constitution.
This is the modest contribution of Afenifere in shaping Nigeria into a federation where no person or ethnic nationality is oppressed.
In the countdown to the 2023 General elections, long before the parties conducted their Conventions to elect their National Executives and candidates, we had insisted and still advocate restructuring before the elections proposing a synthesis of the identical Resolutions of the 2014 National Conference and the APC El Rufai 2018 True Federalism Committee. We did this as Afenifere and on the wider spectrum of the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF). We did this, when politicians, in spite of the monumental crises confronting the nation, carried on as if the attainment of power was all that mattered, the SMBLF unanimously proposed that the minimum condition for a peaceful transition from the disastrous 8years of Buhari’s government headed by a President of northern extraction was to have the next President from the South.
This position was also supported by all the southern governors, irrespective of their political parties at a meeting held in Asaba, Delta State.
Incidentally, this North/South consideration which is at the very root of our amalgamated federation is also the most important testament of all political parties in Nigeria. The principle of federal character enshrined in the constitution dictates that the government of the federation or any part thereof shall not be concentrated in any ethnic group or a combination of such groups.
It is therefore preposterous to adopt this principle for employment in public service admissions in educational institutions, political appointment, the composition of the executive committee of a political party only to jettison it in the most important question of rulership of the federation.
In this quest for peace, based on equity and inclusiveness, the Yoruba took the first turn at the zoning arrangement in 1999, and that led to the emergence of Chief Obasanjo, the current Vice President is a Yoruba man and equity forbids us for presuming to support another Yoruba person for the presidency in 2023. The current President is a Fulani from the Northwest and by virtue of the zoning arrangement that has governed Nigeria since 1999, power is supposed to return to the south imminently. The southwest as I have pointed out has produced a president and currently sits as VP, the South-South has spent a total of 6years in the Presidency, but the Igbo people of the South-East have never tasted presidency in Nigeria, and now that the power is due back in the South equity demands that it be ceded to the Igbo.
We cannot continue to demand that the Igbo people remain in Nigeria, while we at the same time continue to brutally marginalize and exclude them from the power dynamic.
Peter Obi is the person of Igbo extraction that Afenifere has decided to support and to back, he is the man we trust to restructure the country back to federalism on the assumption of office.
We will not compromise this principle of justice, equity and inclusiveness because one of our own Asiwaju Bola Tinubu is a frontline candidate.
It is on this same principle, we condemn the PDP for sponsoring Atiku Abubakar, a Northern Fulani Muslim to succeed General Muhammadu Buhari another Fulani Muslim who will soon complete 8 years of uneventful and disastrous rule. One can imagine such a high degree of political insensitivity.
On our part, we are certainly not alien to sacrificing personal interests in the quest for a National coalition to put Nigeria on the proper pedestal.
In this regard, the starting point is Southern solidarity for which we first enacted a handshake across the Niger, which had dovetailed to the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum. We enjoin the labour movement, students, youth organisations, women associations, and every institution whose foundation is built on fairness and justice to join hands in this task of enthroning a democratic government by supporting Peter Obi. If we are sincere and honest about keeping Nigeria together in peace, the slogan henceforth should be
‘To keep Nigeria one, everyone should be Obi/Datti compliant.’
In the final analysis, let it be said that we have no apologies but due courage of our conviction that Nigeria can only prosper in righteousness.
For me, in the twilight of my sojourn on earth at 94, it is too late to derail me on the track of true federalism and National inclusiveness on which I have travelled for over 70 years of my life as one of the few surviving initial prophets, I prefer to ascend on a chariot of fire, fueled by justice and equity.
Thank you all
And may the good Lord bless Nigeria
Signed
CHIEF AYO ADEBANJO
Leader of Afenifere
PRESS CONFERENCE BY CHIEF AYO ADEBANJO, LEADER OF AFENIFERE, ON THE 26TH OF SEPTEMBER, 2022, 11:00AM,
AT WHEATBAKER HOTEL, IKOYI, LAGOS STATE.
WHY AFENIFERE SUPPORTS SOUTH EAST PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE FOR 2023 PRESIDENCY.
Before the political parties conducted their primaries, a journalist asked what is my view about the 2023 general election? I answered and said the country should be restructured before the general election, and he followed up by asking if there should be an election, which zone should the Presidency come from? And I unhesitatingly said, of course, the South East
I took my time to explain that the presidency is not a contest between the Yorubas and the Igbos and to a large extent I was able to convince many.
But ever since social media has been filled with comments tending to ethnicize the campaign instead of making it issue-based.
Afenifere has therefore decided to address you today and through you educate the public on the ideological and equitable principles which have influenced our decision.
Let me state here for the benefit of those who may not know that Afenifere is the Yoruba interpretation of the social welfarist ideology of Action Group, a political party founded by Chief Obafemi Awolowo and his colleagues in 1951 with strong advocacy for federalism as the best form of government to give the federating units the requisite autonomy to thrive and peacefully compete among themselves for the ultimate development of Nigeria.
The system was eventually agreed to by our founding fathers, Sir Ahmad Bello, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, and Chief Obafemi Awolowo, and endorsed by the Colonial Secretary, Sir Oliver Littleton in 1954 and embodied in the 1960 independence constitution.
This is the modest contribution of Afenifere in shaping Nigeria into a federation where no person or ethnic nationality is oppressed.
In the countdown to the 2023 General elections, long before the parties conducted their Conventions to elect their National Executives and candidates, we had insisted and still advocate restructuring before the elections proposing a synthesis of the identical Resolutions of the 2014 National Conference and the APC El Rufai 2018 True Federalism Committee. We did this as Afenifere and on the wider spectrum of the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF). We did this, when politicians, in spite of the monumental crises confronting the nation, carried on as if the attainment of power was all that mattered, the SMBLF unanimously proposed that the minimum condition for a peaceful transition from the disastrous 8years of Buhari’s government headed by a President of northern extraction was to have the next President from the South.
This position was also supported by all the southern governors, irrespective of their political parties at a meeting held in Asaba, Delta State.
Incidentally, this North/South consideration which is at the very root of our amalgamated federation is also the most important testament of all political parties in Nigeria. The principle of federal character enshrined in the constitution dictates that the government of the federation or any part thereof shall not be concentrated in any ethnic group or a combination of such groups.
It is therefore preposterous to adopt this principle for employment in public service admissions in educational institutions, political appointment, the composition of the executive committee of a political party only to jettison it in the most important question of rulership of the federation.
In this quest for peace, based on equity and inclusiveness, the Yoruba took the first turn at the zoning arrangement in 1999, and that led to the emergence of Chief Obasanjo, the current Vice President is a Yoruba man and equity forbids us for presuming to support another Yoruba person for the presidency in 2023. The current President is a Fulani from the Northwest and by virtue of the zoning arrangement that has governed Nigeria since 1999, power is supposed to return to the south imminently. The southwest as I have pointed out has produced a president and currently sits as VP, the South-South has spent a total of 6years in the Presidency, but the Igbo people of the South-East have never tasted presidency in Nigeria, and now that the power is due back in the South equity demands that it be ceded to the Igbo.
We cannot continue to demand that the Igbo people remain in Nigeria, while we at the same time continue to brutally marginalize and exclude them from the power dynamic.
Peter Obi is the person of Igbo extraction that Afenifere has decided to support and to back, he is the man we trust to restructure the country back to federalism on the assumption of office.
We will not compromise this principle of justice, equity and inclusiveness because one of our own Asiwaju Bola Tinubu is a frontline candidate.
It is on this same principle, we condemn the PDP for sponsoring Atiku Abubakar, a Northern Fulani Muslim to succeed General Muhammadu Buhari another Fulani Muslim who will soon complete 8 years of uneventful and disastrous rule. One can imagine such a high degree of political insensitivity.
On our part, we are certainly not alien to sacrificing personal interests in the quest for a National coalition to put Nigeria on the proper pedestal.
In this regard, the starting point is Southern solidarity for which we first enacted a handshake across the Niger, which had dovetailed to the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum. We enjoin the labour movement, students, youth organisations, women associations, and every institution whose foundation is built on fairness and justice to join hands in this task of enthroning a democratic government by supporting Peter Obi. If we are sincere and honest about keeping Nigeria together in peace, the slogan henceforth should be
‘To keep Nigeria one, everyone should be Obi/Datti compliant.’
In the final analysis, let it be said that we have no apologies but due courage of our conviction that Nigeria can only prosper in righteousness.
For me, in the twilight of my sojourn on earth at 94, it is too late to derail me on the track of true federalism and National inclusiveness on which I have travelled for over 70 years of my life as one of the few surviving initial prophets, I prefer to ascend on a chariot of fire, fueled by justice and equity.
Thank you all
And may the good Lord bless Nigeria
Signed
CHIEF AYO ADEBANJO
Leader of Afenifere
According to the report, the 95 year old monarch was breathed his last early on Sunday Morning after old age sickness.
Late Oladunni who ascended the throne on October 24, 1973 exited from the royal pedigree today, December 12, 2021 ending his 48 years reign as the Soun Of Ogbomoso land.
An official announcement on the burial rites by the royal family and the Oyo state government may soon follow as there were speculations the the late monarch may be buried today.
According to the report, the 95 year old monarch was breathed his last early on Sunday Morning after old age sickness.
Late Oladunni who ascended the throne on October 24, 1973 exited from the royal pedigree today, December 12, 2021 ending his 48 years reign as the Soun Of Ogbomoso land.
An official announcement on the burial rites by the royal family and the Oyo state government may soon follow as there were speculations the the late monarch may be buried today.
(Being a Letter Addressed to United Nations Security Council, the Trusteeship Council and the General Assembly, September 14, 2021 by the Nigerian Indigenous Nationalities Alliance for Self-Determination, (NINAS), at the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
PROTOCOLS.
1. We, the Indigenous Peoples of Nigeria gather today at the Headquarters of the United Nations in New York to alert the UN, and the rest of the Global Community that the Union of Nigeria has failed irredeemably; and is now at the verge of a Violent Disintegration with Catastrophic Consequences for Global Peace, and Security as our population of over 200 million would become an Instant Global Refugee Nightmare.
2. Amidst the extraordinary difficulties inflicted by the imposition and enforcement of Sharia by a section of Nigeria in a supposedly Secular Union, the immediate reason for this looming catastrophe is the Cocktail of Mass Killing, Kidnapping and General Banditry being orchestrated against the Indigenous Peoples of Nigeria by an invading Fulani Militia masquerading as Herdsmen in an undisguised Ethnic Cleansing Campaign that progressively demonstrate the Complicity of the Federal Government of Nigeria headed by Major-General Muhammadu Buhari, a Fulani man, who as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria is also the Life Grand Patron of the notorious Myetti-Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria; that proudly takes responsibility for the Murderous Exploits of the Fulani Herdsmen Militia designated the Fourth Most Deadly Terror Group.
3. Compounding their impunity, the same Myetti-Allah Cattle Breeders Association at a recent Press Conference organised to mock the Planned NINAS Million-Man Freedom March to the UN, boasted to be in control of the UN through their daughter, Amina Mohammed, the Deputy Secretary-General at the UN. An indication that (Amina Mohammed) nominated to that Exalted UN Position by the Fulani President of Nigeria Major-General Muhammadu Buhari, is in some way a part of the Grand Protection Design for the Fulani Herdsmen in their Bloody, Onslaught against the Indigenous Peoples of Nigeria.
4. It will be recalled that following widespread extrajudicial killings in Nigeria, the UN in August of 2019, dispatched a Special Rapporteur Mission to Nigeria led by Agnes Callamard. The Damning Verdict of that Rapporteur Mission was that the widespread extrajudicial killings were flowing from the Unitary Constitutional Arrangements of Nigeria, which operates as a PRESSURE-COOKER FOR INJUSTICE and that Nigeria under that Constitution is a Danger to Global Peace and Security. The Report warned that unless something is done urgently, Nigeria would Snap, plunging its 200 million Population into turmoil that will trigger a Large-Scale Refugee Crisis of unprecedented magnitude at a time the Global Terror Networks, ISIS, ISWAP and AL-Qaeda are already converging in Nigeria.
5. It will be recalled that in furtherance of the Repudiation and Rejection of the Unitary Constitution of Nigeria (1999), and the Toxic Union it foists, the Nigerian Indigenous Nationalities Alliance for Self-Determination (being the South and Middle-Belt of Nigeria) on December 16, 2020 Declared a Constitutional Force Majeure, raising a Union Dispute with 5-Point Demand for the termination of the operation of the aforementioned imposed Constitution; for the immediate commencement of remediation of the Long-Standing Grave Constitutional Grievances of Nigeria’s Constituent Components, failing which the Peoples of the Alliance Territory would Reconsider their Allegiance to that Constitution. The Key Highlights of the five-point demand include the suspension of the further elections (Particularly the 2023 Elections), under the repudiated 1999 constitution as well as the initiation of a time-bound transitioning arrangement to mid-wife the emergence of fresh constitutional protocols founded on the sovereignty and self-determination rights of the constituent components of Nigeria. An Online Petition conveying the Demands of that Constitutional Force Majeure Proclamation, is currently before the UN Security Council.
6. That Nigeria has failed as a State is no longer a Subject for Debate, having emerged the Global Poverty Capital, and Playing Host to Two of the World’s Top Four Most Deadly Terrorists Organisation, with Three-quarters of the Constituent Components (South and Middle-Belt) Seeking Urgent Extrication by Way of Referendums from what has become a Union of Death. Looking back at the recent turn of events in Afghanistan, this Freedom March to the United Nations Headquarters in New York, is to alert the Global Community of the rapidly degenerating situation of Nigeria, and to invite United Nations, particularly the Security Council, and Trusteeship Council, to initiate Urgent Steps to Arrest Nigeria’s Descent into Chaos, as besieged communities drift dangerously to self-help.
*For and on behalf of the Nigerian Indigenous Nationalities Alliance for Self-Determination*
*Professor Yusuf Turaki*
*Elder T.K Ogoriba*
*Dr. Don Pedro Obaseki*
*Tony Nnadi*
(Secretary-General, NINAS)
*Professor Banji Akintoye*
(Chairman, NINAS)
 |
| Prof Banji Akintoye |
(Being a Letter Addressed to United Nations Security Council, the Trusteeship Council and the General Assembly, September 14, 2021 by the Nigerian Indigenous Nationalities Alliance for Self-Determination, (NINAS), at the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
PROTOCOLS.
1. We, the Indigenous Peoples of Nigeria gather today at the Headquarters of the United Nations in New York to alert the UN, and the rest of the Global Community that the Union of Nigeria has failed irredeemably; and is now at the verge of a Violent Disintegration with Catastrophic Consequences for Global Peace, and Security as our population of over 200 million would become an Instant Global Refugee Nightmare.
2. Amidst the extraordinary difficulties inflicted by the imposition and enforcement of Sharia by a section of Nigeria in a supposedly Secular Union, the immediate reason for this looming catastrophe is the Cocktail of Mass Killing, Kidnapping and General Banditry being orchestrated against the Indigenous Peoples of Nigeria by an invading Fulani Militia masquerading as Herdsmen in an undisguised Ethnic Cleansing Campaign that progressively demonstrate the Complicity of the Federal Government of Nigeria headed by Major-General Muhammadu Buhari, a Fulani man, who as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria is also the Life Grand Patron of the notorious Myetti-Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria; that proudly takes responsibility for the Murderous Exploits of the Fulani Herdsmen Militia designated the Fourth Most Deadly Terror Group.
3. Compounding their impunity, the same Myetti-Allah Cattle Breeders Association at a recent Press Conference organised to mock the Planned NINAS Million-Man Freedom March to the UN, boasted to be in control of the UN through their daughter, Amina Mohammed, the Deputy Secretary-General at the UN. An indication that (Amina Mohammed) nominated to that Exalted UN Position by the Fulani President of Nigeria Major-General Muhammadu Buhari, is in some way a part of the Grand Protection Design for the Fulani Herdsmen in their Bloody, Onslaught against the Indigenous Peoples of Nigeria.
4. It will be recalled that following widespread extrajudicial killings in Nigeria, the UN in August of 2019, dispatched a Special Rapporteur Mission to Nigeria led by Agnes Callamard. The Damning Verdict of that Rapporteur Mission was that the widespread extrajudicial killings were flowing from the Unitary Constitutional Arrangements of Nigeria, which operates as a PRESSURE-COOKER FOR INJUSTICE and that Nigeria under that Constitution is a Danger to Global Peace and Security. The Report warned that unless something is done urgently, Nigeria would Snap, plunging its 200 million Population into turmoil that will trigger a Large-Scale Refugee Crisis of unprecedented magnitude at a time the Global Terror Networks, ISIS, ISWAP and AL-Qaeda are already converging in Nigeria.
5. It will be recalled that in furtherance of the Repudiation and Rejection of the Unitary Constitution of Nigeria (1999), and the Toxic Union it foists, the Nigerian Indigenous Nationalities Alliance for Self-Determination (being the South and Middle-Belt of Nigeria) on December 16, 2020 Declared a Constitutional Force Majeure, raising a Union Dispute with 5-Point Demand for the termination of the operation of the aforementioned imposed Constitution; for the immediate commencement of remediation of the Long-Standing Grave Constitutional Grievances of Nigeria’s Constituent Components, failing which the Peoples of the Alliance Territory would Reconsider their Allegiance to that Constitution. The Key Highlights of the five-point demand include the suspension of the further elections (Particularly the 2023 Elections), under the repudiated 1999 constitution as well as the initiation of a time-bound transitioning arrangement to mid-wife the emergence of fresh constitutional protocols founded on the sovereignty and self-determination rights of the constituent components of Nigeria. An Online Petition conveying the Demands of that Constitutional Force Majeure Proclamation, is currently before the UN Security Council.
6. That Nigeria has failed as a State is no longer a Subject for Debate, having emerged the Global Poverty Capital, and Playing Host to Two of the World’s Top Four Most Deadly Terrorists Organisation, with Three-quarters of the Constituent Components (South and Middle-Belt) Seeking Urgent Extrication by Way of Referendums from what has become a Union of Death. Looking back at the recent turn of events in Afghanistan, this Freedom March to the United Nations Headquarters in New York, is to alert the Global Community of the rapidly degenerating situation of Nigeria, and to invite United Nations, particularly the Security Council, and Trusteeship Council, to initiate Urgent Steps to Arrest Nigeria’s Descent into Chaos, as besieged communities drift dangerously to self-help.
*For and on behalf of the Nigerian Indigenous Nationalities Alliance for Self-Determination*
*Professor Yusuf Turaki*
*Elder T.K Ogoriba*
*Dr. Don Pedro Obaseki*
*Tony Nnadi*
(Secretary-General, NINAS)
*Professor Banji Akintoye*
(Chairman, NINAS)
|
| Prof Banji Akintoye |
The Nigeria's Lawless Department Of State Services has releases two more associates of Yoruba agitator Sunday Igboho.
According to their lawyer, Pelumi Olajengbesi, the two were released by the secret police in. Abuja on Friday.
The Nigeria's Lawless Department Of State Services has releases two more associates of Yoruba agitator Sunday Igboho.
According to their lawyer, Pelumi Olajengbesi, the two were released by the secret police in. Abuja on Friday.
By Abdul-Ganiyy Raji
Yoruba people of South Western Nigeria are known to be lovers of education. They can borrow or sell their valuables just to get a tertiary education. One particular South Western State is reputed to have the most professors in the country. I guess you know the state I am talking about.
It is an incontrovertible fact that the Yorubas are the most educated people in Nigeria. They love education so much that they also pursue it beyond the shores of the country. There is hardly any continent of the world that does not have a student of Yoruba origin. However, a study of the economic realities of many Nigerians show that other ethnic groups like Ibo, Hausa and Fulani are better off financially than many graduates of Yoruba origin. Let us begin by taking a look at most of the big and small shops in Lagos State, they are owned by Ibos. Most highbrow estates in Lagos State are also fast becoming another South East within a State because of the high concentration of people of South Eastern origin who are resident in them. This is kudos to Ibos. At least, they are working hard and smart. It is wrong to think that all Ibos who are well-off are fraudsters or money ritualists. Many of them just have great legit business ideas that many Yoruba graduates do not have. They never get carried away by their academic qualifications.
One wrong assumption that many South Westerners have is thinking that the Hausas who do menial jobs and hawk yams and pepper in Lagos State are also poor people back in their various states. What we fail to realise is that most of these Hausas are making fortunes in Lagos and other big cities. Many of them are millionaires in their states. Some of them even have farmlands that are big enough to feed large communities.
Why are Yorubas not the richest people in Nigeria notwithstanding their educational edge over other tribes? The simple answer is Yorubas are egomaniacal. They are arrogant. Their arrogance makes them avoid jobs which yield high profits but which will require them to get their clothes and feet stained with mud, oil or sand. Yorubas like white-collar jobs. They all want to work in cosy offices. If they fail to get jobs in big companies, they keep waiting till eternity. When a graduate of Ibo origin fails to get his desired white-collar job, he considers selling Okirika, raw foodstuffs or any other thing that he can lay his hands on. This is not the case with graduates in the South West. To the Yorubas, it is an embarrassment that a university graduate should be seen selling Okirika, raw foodstuffs or cooked food, or doing a blue-collar job. This is one of the reasons why many graduates are poor in the South West.
Friends and family members are also blameworthy for the poor economic status of many graduates in the South West. They will mock you behind and in front of you for selling raw foodstuffs, cooked food or Okirika, or for doing blue-collar jobs if you are a graduate. *"How can a graduate like you be selling yams?* This is what they will say even without making any attempt to help you get an alternative job. They will taunt you so much that if you are not focused, you may end up becoming frustrated and hopeless.
A Hausa man will put out a tray with 20 oranges and within two months, the oranges will become 200. Before long, he will be buying multiple sacks of oranges. The same Hausa man who came to Lagos with nothing will return to his state annually with lots of money. Where is the Yoruba man who is a university graduate? He is still roaming the streets looking for a white-collar job that does not exist.
The problem with graduates in the South West is that they have a morbid sense of self-importance and and entitlement. *"I am a graduate and therefore, I must get a prestigious white-collar job"* *"I am a graduate and therefore, I must not be seen doing a job that is meant for non-graduates."* Yorubas who reason in these manners are living in a utopian world. Today,there are many blue-collar jobs and self-run busineses that pay more than white-collar jobs. We can see many blue-collar workers and self-employed people building their houses and sending their children to schools of their choice while many white-collar workers are even struggling to make ends meet.
Do not misconstrue me. I do not mean to say that white-collar jobs are bad. What I am aiming at is that if you cannot get a white-collar job, never sit down wallowing in poverty and self-pity. Think about other things you can do that will put food on the table for you and your family, even if such other things will not involve knotting a tie or wearing a suit. Do not allow mockery from your friends, family members or former classmates, or your supposedly intimidating credentials to prevent you from doing legit blue-collar jobs that can bring you money. Let people ridicule you for doing a blue-collar job or running your small business. When you finally make it, they will come back to congratulate you.
Yoruba people, wake up before it is too late.
Abdul-Ganiyy Raji
By Abdul-Ganiyy Raji
Yoruba people of South Western Nigeria are known to be lovers of education. They can borrow or sell their valuables just to get a tertiary education. One particular South Western State is reputed to have the most professors in the country. I guess you know the state I am talking about.
It is an incontrovertible fact that the Yorubas are the most educated people in Nigeria. They love education so much that they also pursue it beyond the shores of the country. There is hardly any continent of the world that does not have a student of Yoruba origin. However, a study of the economic realities of many Nigerians show that other ethnic groups like Ibo, Hausa and Fulani are better off financially than many graduates of Yoruba origin. Let us begin by taking a look at most of the big and small shops in Lagos State, they are owned by Ibos. Most highbrow estates in Lagos State are also fast becoming another South East within a State because of the high concentration of people of South Eastern origin who are resident in them. This is kudos to Ibos. At least, they are working hard and smart. It is wrong to think that all Ibos who are well-off are fraudsters or money ritualists. Many of them just have great legit business ideas that many Yoruba graduates do not have. They never get carried away by their academic qualifications.
One wrong assumption that many South Westerners have is thinking that the Hausas who do menial jobs and hawk yams and pepper in Lagos State are also poor people back in their various states. What we fail to realise is that most of these Hausas are making fortunes in Lagos and other big cities. Many of them are millionaires in their states. Some of them even have farmlands that are big enough to feed large communities.
Why are Yorubas not the richest people in Nigeria notwithstanding their educational edge over other tribes? The simple answer is Yorubas are egomaniacal. They are arrogant. Their arrogance makes them avoid jobs which yield high profits but which will require them to get their clothes and feet stained with mud, oil or sand. Yorubas like white-collar jobs. They all want to work in cosy offices. If they fail to get jobs in big companies, they keep waiting till eternity. When a graduate of Ibo origin fails to get his desired white-collar job, he considers selling Okirika, raw foodstuffs or any other thing that he can lay his hands on. This is not the case with graduates in the South West. To the Yorubas, it is an embarrassment that a university graduate should be seen selling Okirika, raw foodstuffs or cooked food, or doing a blue-collar job. This is one of the reasons why many graduates are poor in the South West.
Friends and family members are also blameworthy for the poor economic status of many graduates in the South West. They will mock you behind and in front of you for selling raw foodstuffs, cooked food or Okirika, or for doing blue-collar jobs if you are a graduate. *"How can a graduate like you be selling yams?* This is what they will say even without making any attempt to help you get an alternative job. They will taunt you so much that if you are not focused, you may end up becoming frustrated and hopeless.
A Hausa man will put out a tray with 20 oranges and within two months, the oranges will become 200. Before long, he will be buying multiple sacks of oranges. The same Hausa man who came to Lagos with nothing will return to his state annually with lots of money. Where is the Yoruba man who is a university graduate? He is still roaming the streets looking for a white-collar job that does not exist.
The problem with graduates in the South West is that they have a morbid sense of self-importance and and entitlement. *"I am a graduate and therefore, I must get a prestigious white-collar job"* *"I am a graduate and therefore, I must not be seen doing a job that is meant for non-graduates."* Yorubas who reason in these manners are living in a utopian world. Today,there are many blue-collar jobs and self-run busineses that pay more than white-collar jobs. We can see many blue-collar workers and self-employed people building their houses and sending their children to schools of their choice while many white-collar workers are even struggling to make ends meet.
Do not misconstrue me. I do not mean to say that white-collar jobs are bad. What I am aiming at is that if you cannot get a white-collar job, never sit down wallowing in poverty and self-pity. Think about other things you can do that will put food on the table for you and your family, even if such other things will not involve knotting a tie or wearing a suit. Do not allow mockery from your friends, family members or former classmates, or your supposedly intimidating credentials to prevent you from doing legit blue-collar jobs that can bring you money. Let people ridicule you for doing a blue-collar job or running your small business. When you finally make it, they will come back to congratulate you.
Yoruba people, wake up before it is too late.
Abdul-Ganiyy Raji
The Nigeria's Lawless Department Of State Services has on Monday releases eight of the detained Igboho's aides while still lllegally Keeping for in custody.
This was confirmed by their lawyer, Pelumi Olajengbesi on Monday. He, however, said the remaining four aides must be released as they have all met their bail conditions.
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The Nigeria's Lawless Department Of State Services has on Monday releases eight of the detained Igboho's aides while still lllegally Keeping for in custody.
This was confirmed by their lawyer, Pelumi Olajengbesi on Monday. He, however, said the remaining four aides must be released as they have all met their bail conditions.
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