xxxxxx
xxxxxx
xxxxxx
xxxxxx
United Kingdom
(xxxxxx@outlook.com)
1 March 2021
Mrs Kamala Harris
Vice President of the Unites States of America
Blair House
1651 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington
Dear Mrs Harris
I write for and on behalf of the Yoruba Descendants of Southern Nigeria. Between 1400 and 1800, about 10 million Yoruba were forcibly transported to America as slaves. We Yoruba built America with our blood and sweat but we are yet to receive any recompense, which would go some way to amend for the harm done to us and to our future. Furthermore, our descendants, Black Americans, are yet to receive any reparation, which would go some to amend for the wrongs that America did and has continued to do to them. Holocaust survivors received billions of dollars. World War 2 internees were paid $1.5 million. Why should we not receive recompense and reparation? To this end, we respectfully write to request that you kindly broker self-determination for the Yoruba people of Nigeria.
We the Yoruba people of Nigeria wish to reclaim our sovereignty that Britain arbitrarily and forcibly took away from us in the Amalgamation of 1914 that gave birth to Nigeria. We seek to exert our inherent sovereignty by leaving Nigeria to form the Oduduwa Republic. Creation of the Oduduwa Republic will right the wrong that we the Yoruba people have endured since the 1914 Amalgamation.
The Yoruba occupy an area of Nigeria that they have occupied uninterrupted from time immemorial. The Yoruba speak one language, have a common custom and tradition, and believe in one ancestral origin, Oduduwa. Before colonisation, the Yoruba lived in city states within one of the largest indigenous empires in West Africa, Oyo Empire. Over 30 million Yoruba currently live in their ancestral home in Nigeria and a similar number are in the diaspora. On the continent of Africa, the Yoruba are one of the largest ethnic groups and are likely the largest homogenous people.
There is no bar to establishing a new country. Indeed, the number of countries making up the United Nations (UN) has increased from 51 in 1945 to 193 today There are no specific rules but, the proposed Oduduwa Republic is compliant with the Montevideo Convention of 1933, which stipulated that to become a state, a region must meet 4 requirements: a) a permanent population, b) a defined territory, c) a government, and d) the ability to form relations with other states. Until the military coup of 1966, the Yoruba had their own autonomous government in the Western Region of Nigeria, and there will be no difficulty in now setting up a modern government.
The proposed Oduduwa Republic meets five standards set by President Bush in 1991 for the recognition of the Soviet Republics: 1) self-determination consistent with democratic principles, 2) recognition of existing borders, 3) support for democracy and the rule of law, 4) preservation of human rights and rights of minorities and, 5) respect for international law and obligation. The Yoruba have a tradition of democracy, the rule of law, preservation of human rights and respect for their neighbours.
The principle and right to self-determination is firmly established in international law. The right is a cardinal principle and part of what has been called ‘hard law’. The right to self-determination was affirmed by the International Court of Justice in respect of Namibia (Case 7), the Western Sahara (Case 8) and East Timor (Case 9). It was affirmed by the UNESCO’s International Meeting of Experts for the Elucidation of the Concepts of Rights of Peoples. Self-determination is an integral part of human rights law, which has universal application. Compliance with the right of self-determination is fundamental to other freedoms whether cultural, civil, socio-economic or political. The right to self-determination trumps the right of a country to continue its existence or not to be dismembered. The moral imperative for the right to self-determination is undeniable. Self-determination is a human right.
The right of the Yoruba people to self-determination is guaranteed under the UN General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV) of 14 December 1960, which says: ‘All peoples have the right to self-determination; by virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.’…‘Inadequacy of political, economic, social or educational preparedness should never serve as a pretext for delaying independence.’
The right of the Yoruba people to self-determination is guaranteed under the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (New York, 16 December 1966) Article 1: 1 provides: ‘All peoples have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development’.
The right of the Yoruba people to self-determination is guaranteed under the UN International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (New York, 16 December 1966) Article 1: 1 provides: ‘All peoples have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development’. Nigeria signed the covenants on 29 July 1993.
The right of the Yoruba people to self-determination is guaranteed under The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights Article 20: 1, which says: ‘All peoples shall have the right to existence. They shall have the unquestionable and inalienable right to self- determination. They shall freely determine their political status and shall pursue their economic and social development according to the policy they have freely chosen’. The Organisation of African Unity (OAU) adopted the Charter in 1981.
Independent existence is not new to the Yoruba people. We were independently existing as an Empire before our forced inclusion by the British in the 1914 act of Amalgamation that established Nigeria as a country. Prior to the 1966 military coup in Nigeria, the Yoruba people were self-governing in the Western Region of Nigeria. We were at that time responsible for some of our own international affairs. Indeed, Chapter IX. Section 80(7) of the 1963 Constitution conferred on the Yoruba region the ‘power to make laws having extra-territorial operation’.
We are confident that dissolution of Nigeria into its constituent nations will be neither detrimental nor injurious. Breakup of countries have led to stupendous leap in development and modernisation. Whether breakup is beneficial or not depends on how it is done. Experience from all over the world shows that a negotiated breakup is beneficial not harmful. We believe that your esteemed self can help us broker a negotiated settlement in Nigeria.
Yours faithfully
Olusola Oni
(Baasegun Alabe of Ijebu-Jesa, Osun State, Nigeria)
For and on Behalf of Yoruba Descendants