Ibadan is the political heart of Yorubaland. On 15 January 1966, the Fulani machinegunned the political heart of Yorubaland. They murdered Chief Oladoke Akintọla, the premier, in cold blood. On 16 January 2024, the Fulani bombed the political heart of Yorubaland. I do not believe in coincidence. I understand Akintola’s son was a victim of this latest atrocity. I wonder what he must be feeling right now.  

Ibadan blood flows through my veins. My mother is Ibadan. The family home with its traditional Yoruba architecture is still there at Kudeti. I was born in Ibadan, at home under the watchful eyes of women whose expertise derived from their personal experiences of childbirth. I went to school in Ibadan. I went to university in Ibadan. I became a man in Ibadan. The Fulani put a dagger through my heart when they bombed Ibadan.

Founded in the 1700s, Ibadan emerged in the 1800s as the dominant city in Yorubaland economically, militarily and politically. In 1840, Ibadan forces decisively defeated and repelled the Fulani incursion into Northern Yorubaland at Ilorin. It was to Ibadan that refugees flooded when the Fulani savages attacked Ilorin. The Fulani did not defeat the Yoruba, the Oyo Empire did not collapse. Only charlatans and liars say otherwise.

Yorubaland has 6 state governors, 8 if you included Kwara and Kogi, even 10 if you included the old Midwestern Region. All are silent, all eunuchs (Akura) to a man. The governor of Oyo State says ‘keep calm’.

'Keep calm' is the new Yoruba disease. Fulani rape and pillage. 'Keep calm'! Islamic infidels massacre Owo church worshippers. 'Keep calm'! Barbarians and savages bomb Bodija, Awolowo's legacy. ' Keep calm'! Yoruba leaders preach 'Keep calm' because they are gutless cowards.

A friend responded to this message saying that ‘suru lere’ meaning ‘patience has profit’. I am not aware of any situation in human history where the oppressed have used ‘patience’ to defeat their oppressor. ‘Suru lere’ and it would be handed to us on a plate? This is just pipe dream.

‘Keep calm’! Then what? Investigate. Then what? By which time, the emotion is dissipated; the anger is dissipated. By which time, it would be as if nothing had happened. And the perpetrators are further emboldened, as they have been since 1966.

Oju torọ ni irorẹ nsọ. It is the face that is soft that the pimple attacks. When confronted with threat to our existence, the Yoruba leaders claim to use a ‘superior intelligence’ that would see the Yoruba through. It has been the same mantra since 1959. The cowardice never ends.

1959 – the federal elections were inconclusive, rather than have a government of national unity, Fulani and Igbo leaders formed a coalition designed to exclude the Yoruba from participation in the central government. Prior to 1959, the Igbo had dominated Nigerian politics, but their leaders willingly handed power to the Fulani self-evidently to exclude the Yoruba. What did the Yoruba leaders do with their so-called ‘superior intelligence’? Kept calm!

1963 – Fulani and Ibo leaders contrived to destroy the Yoruba western region. They hived off the Midwest from the Yorubaland. They imprisoned Awolowo. What did the Yoruba leaders do with their so-called ‘superior intelligence’? Kept calm!

1967 – the Fulani began their campaign of domination of Nigeria. They embarked on assassination of prominent Yoruba leaders. October 1986 – Dele Giwa. July 1998 – MK Abiola. December 2001 – Bola Ige. July 2021 – attempted assassination of Sunday Igboho. What did the Yoruba leaders do with their so-called ‘superior intelligence’? Kept calm!

Every single election in Nigeria since 1959 has been rigged in the east and in the north. No uprising. Their people accept it. 1959 election in the north was by the device of ‘electoral college’ because they wouldn’t let women vote. The northerners still use ‘electoral college’ where they claim voting was not possible. The Fulani routinely enfranchise children. Only in the Yoruba west, do the leaders froth in the mouth and see vote rigging everywhere.  

To make sure Fulaniland always belonged to the Fulani, the Fulani established in the Arewa States the complete Sharia law together with Sharia police. Nigeria’s 1999 Fulani constitution said they mustn’t do it, they say stuff Nigeria, their Sharia was superior to the Nigeria constitution. What did the Yoruba leaders do with their so-called ‘superior intelligence’? Kept calm! The Yoruba leaders are the only true believers in ‘one Nigeria’. These Philistines tell us that Lagos is no man’s land. These morons (Oponu) call us ethnic bigots for defending Yorubaland.

Cowards do not lead. Eunuchs do not lead. We Yoruba must now accept that we have no leaders. If we want to survive, we have to do this ourselves. The first step is to seek self-determination. Self-determination will rid us of the bombers, rid us of the savages, rid us of our enemies. 

We must use the Ibadan bombing as the catalyst to rid us of Nigeria. Let those of us who are pacifists write letters, to legislatures, to the press. Let us bombard the social media. Lest us resume our mega rallies in London and elsewhere. Let us energise our activists.