We Yoruba are daily humiliated in Nigeria. The Fulani treat us with contempt in the name of Nigeria. Yoruba politicians threat us with disdain in the name of Nigeria. To our tormentors, our humiliation was the price to pay for being Nigerians. But when did we Yoruba ever agree to be Nigerians? There has been no plebiscite, no referendum.
Before Nigeria came into existence, the Yoruba people had an established political order of their own. It was in the form of self-governing, autonomous city states (Ilu). Each city state had its own ruler (Ọba) supported in that role by a law-making council (Ijọba). The city states were united into one confederate Yoruba country (Orilẹede Yoruba). The Yoruba were united by a common descent, culture and tradition, language, religion and way of life. The Yoruba country was a defined territory owned and exclusively governed by the Yoruba. Indeed, Britain recognised the Yorubaland as a country. On 23 July 1888, Britain signed a treaty of friendship and trade with the Yorubaland in which it was expressly stated that the Yoruba were not giving up an inch of their land. That treaty is still in force today and we must demand its revival.
In 1899, Britain did not own the Yoruba country yet their Queen passed a law in which she joined (amalgamated) the Yorubaland with strangers to form Nigeria. Britain did not consult the Yoruba or ask for their consent. Britain created Nigeria because it had the military might to do so. Britain governed the Yoruba country through Nigeria, its creation, until 1960. Between amalgamation in 1914 and independence in 1960, Britain did not at any time ask the Yoruba people, in a plebiscite, referendum or otherwise, whether they wished to be Nigerians. Nigeria in that 46-year period was not even a country. Nigeria did not have sovereignty and there were therefore no Nigerians, only British subjects.
1. British legislative act
The Yoruba became Nigerians by choice, for the first time, on 1 October 1960 when the British parliament passed a law granting independence to Nigeria. Although the Constitution was a British legislative act, it had been negotiated with the 3 Nigerian protectorates, that is to say, Eastern Nigeria, Northern Nigeria and Western Nigeria (Yorubaland). The 1960 constitution had the 3 basic elements of a contract, that is to say, Offer, Acceptance and Consideration. The Offer was made by Britain, Acceptance was done by the 3 protectorates, independence was the mutual Consideration. Section 1 of the 1960 constitutional contract says: ‘This constitution shall have the force of law’, meaning it was legally binding on all the parties. The contract included the ‘right to terminate’; Section 4(1) says: ‘Parliament may alter any of the provisions of this constitution’. Thus, only ‘Parliament’ to which the Western Nigeria had contributed members was entitled in law to terminate the 1960 Independence Constitution. The constitution assigned sovereignty 4 ways, that is to say to the British Crown, Eastern Nigeria, Northern Nigeria and Western Nigeria. Each of the 4 parties had its own separate constitution reinforcing the separate sovereignties. By accepting the 1960 Constitution, the Yoruba agreed to be Nigerians. However, technically, the Yoruba were dual citizens, that is to say, citizens of both Yorubaland and Nigeria.
2. Nigerian legislative act
The Yoruba became Nigerians by choice, for the second time, on 1 October 1963 when the Nigerian parliament passed a law establishing Nigeria as a Republic.In May 1963, Nigeria’s Prime Minister and the 3 Regional Premiers met to review constitutional issues. They set up an all-party constitutional conference, which met in Lagos in July 1963. The conference recommended that Nigeria became a republic. Parliament accepted the recommendation and made a new constitution. The Republican constitution was also a contract. The 4 heads of government made the Offer, Parliament did the Acceptance, Republican status was the mutual Consideration. By accepting this Republican Constitution, the Yoruba again agreed to be dual citizens of Yorubaland and Nigeria.
The 1963 Constitution was a superseding legislative act; Section 1 says: ‘This constitution shall have the force of law’, meaning it was legally binding. The parties to the contract were the 4 sovereignties, namely, Federal government (replacing the Britich Queen), Eastern Nigeria, Northern Nigeria and Western Nigeria. The 1963 Constitution included the ‘right to terminate’ the agreement; Section 4(1) says: ‘Parliament may alter any of the provisions of this constitution’. As before, only ‘Parliament’ to which the Yoruba contributed, and no other, had the legal right to terminate the 1963 Republican Constitution.
Western Nigeria again had its own separate constitution, which this time was enacted by the regional legislature for the ‘self-governing Region of the Federal Republic of Nigeria’. Section 89(7) of the 1963 Western Nigeria Constitution confirmed the separate sovereignty of Yorubaland where it says: ‘For the avoidance of doubt it is hereby declared that any power to make laws conferred by this Constitution includes power to make laws having extra-territorial operation’.
3. The Military interregnum
The Yoruba were made Nigerians by imposition on 15 January 1966 when Nigeria’s soldiers carried out a treasonous insurrection. The soldiers murdered in cold blood the heads of the sovereign governments of the Federation (Tafawa Balewa), the Northern Region (Ahmadu Bello) and the Western Region (Ọladoke Akintọla). Thereafter, the Nigeria military unilaterally created their own iteration of Nigeria (Nigeria Mark 3) in which they replaced with one sovereignty, the 4 separate sovereignties then in existence. These sovereignties had been agreed, firstly, for independence in 1960 and secondly, for the republic in 1963. In May 1999, Fulani militarists imposed their own feudalistic constitution on Nigeria. They held no consultation with us Yoruba. The 1999 Fulani Nigeria Constitution did not contract with us. We have not agreed to this new iteration of Nigeria. Nigeria that we agreed to died in 1966. Today, Nigeria is a legal chaos exploited by opportunist politicians. There is no Nigeria in the true sense. There are no Nigerians in the true sense. We were Nigerians for exactly 5 years, 4 months and 15 days. Today, we Yoruba are ‘Nigerians forced to be’ only (NFTB), not Nigerians that we contracted to be in 1960 and 1963.
Not one of the 3 sovereignties that agreed for their citizens to be Nigerians – in 1960 and in 1963 – has agreed to lose their sovereignty. Not one. The Eastern Region has rejected the loss of sovereignty. In 1967, they fought the Biafra war for it, and lost up to 2 million lives for the cause. The Northern Region has rejected the loss of sovereignty. In 2000, they instituted in their 12 Arewa States, the Sharia Constitution that they deemed superior to the 1999 Fulani Nigeria Constitution. In other words, we are all NFTBs, ‘Nigerians forced to be’ only, not Nigerians that we contracted to be in 1960 and 1963. To be Nigerians again, the sovereignties first have to be reinstated.