Baasegun @ Yoruba Consultative Forum 3 March 2024

Britain created Nigeria on 1 January 1914. Nigeria did not exist until that date. The area of land now called Nigeria had been occupied by several independently existing ethnic nations who had absolutely nothing in common with one another. The peoples of Nigeria are fundamentally different peoples just like the Italians of Europe are different from the Germans, and the French are different from the English etc. These different European ethnic groups have spent centuries fighting self-determination wars with one another to create mono-ethnic nations of their own. This war of identity continued into Yugoslavia in more recent times.

Self-determination is Idaduro in Yoruba, meaning ‘to stand on your own feet’. We Yoruba have the ability to stand on our own feet. There are  30 to 50 millions of us. We have the same ancestry, Oduduwa. We speak the same language. We have the same culture and tradition. We have our own ancient civilisation with distinctive architecture, dress code, facial marks, means of communication, medicine, religion, science and technology.

We have occupied the same area of land continuously and uninterrupted since time immemorial. That land has natural boundaries; the River Niger to the east and north, the Atlantic Ocean to the south. Indeed, the boundaries of the Yorubaland were not penetrated by their neighbours until the Europeans came in the 1800s. We had our own distinctive monarchical system of government that Lugard described as democratic. We had the capacity to enter into relations with other states. We could make  treaties, For example, Britain concluded an important  treaty with the Yorubaland on 23 July 1888.

In other words, Yorubaland fulfilled the universally accepted definition of a nation as agreed at the Montevideo Convention of 1933. The International Law of Self-determination, therefore, applies to Yorubaland. 

That law is described in the UNGA Resolution 2625:  

‘By virtue of the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, all peoples have the right freely to determine, without external interference, their political status and to pursue their economic, social and cultural development, and every State has the duty to respect this right in accordance with the provisions of the Charter.’

There is also a Nigeria domestic law of Self-determination enacted in 1983 based on Article 20.1 of the African Charter: 

‘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’.

Knowing your right is not the same thing as knowing what to do to get it. Many of us Yoruba have chosen the path of forming as many organisations as possible; apparently there are up to 200 of them. The hope presumably is that a Moses would eventually emerge to lead us to the promised land. This is not going to happen, is it?

The UN and the AU gave us the legal right to self-determination. These organisations also provide the means to actuate the self-determination. For example, there are two potential UN processes.

1.    UN Charter Articles 39-42. These articles provide mechanisms for enforcing the right of Self-determination. Article 39 provides:

‘The Security Council shall determine the existence of any threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression and shall make recommendations, or decide what measures shall be taken in accordance with Articles 41 and 42, to maintain or restore international peace and security.’

We can request that the UN invoke Article 39 on the grounds that there was ongoing breach of peace in Nigeria and Nigeria presented threat to peace. Fulani terrorists carry out genocide on Yoruba soil, deliberately orphaned Yoruba children, raped their mothers and sisters, and wantonly destroyed Yoruba farms and communities. 

The Fulani have made life in Yorubaland hazardous and intolerable. Yoruba youths flee Nigeria in their droves - to North Africa, where some were sold as slaves; to Europe, many endeavours ending in drowning in the Mediterranean Sea; to North America and the Caribbean, where they staffed the local and national health and social services. 

The barbarity of the Fulani attest to their deep-seated hatred for the Yoruba. That Fulani hatred has not changed or diminished despite over 100 years of sharing the same country. The history of Cyprus, another British colony, tells us that ethnic hatred never changes. A civil war is inevitable if the UN refused to act.

2.    UN Charter Article 4. This article provides membership as a mechanism for enforcing the right to self-determination. John Dugard articulated this in The Secession of States and Their Recognition in the Wake of Kosovo (2013) where he wrote:

‘By admitting a seceding entity to membership of the United Nations, the United Nations confers the imprimatur of statehood on that entity. Admission to the United Nations constitutes “legal” or “general” recognition that will be respected by all Member States of the United Nations.’

The relevant rules are as set out in the Article 4 of the UN Charter:

‘1. Membership in the United Nations is open to all other peace-loving states which accept the obligations contained in the present Charter and, in the judgment of the Organization, are able and willing to carry out these obligations.

2. The admission of any such state to membership in the United Nations will be effected by a decision of the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council.’

In other words, the ‘judgement of the Organisation’ is the only requirement for UN Membership. An applicant would be admitted if the Security Council and the General Assembly were convinced that it ought to be admitted (see Advisory Opinion on Conditions of Admission of a State to the membership of the United Nations (Article 4 of Charter) ICJ Rep. 28 May 1948). Admission is political not legal. UN admission amounts to collective recognition by those states that voted in favour of Membership. The Article 4 has an exhaustive character. No other conditions could be imported into it.

We are free to make an application. All we have to say firstly is that we have a viable territory, in terms of land and population, and secondly, that we are able and willing to behave in accordance with the UN Charter. 

The Law of Self-determination says that Nigeria could not obstruct our application.  The law says that Nigeria was,

1.    ‘…to promote…realization of the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples…’

2.    ‘…to render assistance to the United Nations in carrying out the responsibilities entrusted to it by the Charter regarding the implementation of the principle…’

3.    ‘…to promote universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms…’ 

4.    ‘…to refrain from any forcible action which deprives peoples…of their right to self-determination and freedom and independence…’

The question that remains is this, which one of us has the standing to approach the UN?