The Yoruba defined ‘State’ as a language territory (Orilẹede); Orilẹ meaning ‘land’, ede meaning ‘language’. The Yoruba of yore tied statehood to language. England, for example, was Orilẹede Gẹẹsi; the territory of the people who spoke Gẹẹsi meaning ‘English language’; Orilẹede Yoruba was the territory of the people who spoke the ‘Yoruba language’. Thus, to the Yoruba people, a State was monoethnic, that is to say, it had only one language (ede kan). The Yoruba of yore would never have classified Nigeria as a State because Nigeria had no language original to it.

Whereas International law, or the law governing relations between States, defined ‘State’ as one possessing of three criteria, and an optional fourth. A State was a territory that was

1.     able to enter into Treaties (the Law of Treaties)

2.     exclusively owned by its inhabitants (the Doctrine of Continuity)

3.     recognised as a State by an act of an established State (the Doctrine of Recognition)

4.     recognised as a State in domestic laws of established States (the Doctrine of Corroboration)

Regarding the Law of Treaties, on 23 July 1888, the Queen of Britain and the Alaafin of Ọyọ as Head of the Yorubaland entered into a non-cession treaty of friendship and preferential trade (the 1888 Britain-Yorubaland Treaty). The Treaty was published in London as a public act. The Queen ratified the Treaty on 16 June 1890. Under international law, only territories with independent governments can conclude treaties. The only reason that Britain entered into the 1888 treaty with the Yorubaland was because the Yorubaland was a State competent under international law to enter into treaties. Otherwise, Britain would not have classified the 1888 document as a ‘treaty’. ‘Treaty’ was a concept familiar to both Britain and the Yorubaland of old; Adehun was the Yoruba word for ‘treaty’. The Law of Treaties thus recognised the Yorubaland as a State.

Regarding the legal Doctrine of Continuity, the Yorubaland is a territory owned exclusively by the Yoruba-speaking peoples (Orilẹede Yoruba). It had been the Yoruba Homeland continuously, exclusively and uninterrupted since time immemorial. The Yorubaland as Yoruba property has never been disputed by any other peoples. The Yorubaland is bounded by natural barriers: to the north and east by the River Niger and to the south by the Atlantic ocean. There is archaeological evidence that the Yoruba have occupied this land at least since the 1200s, and spoke Yoruba as their language since that time. The Yoruba themselves claim to have been present at the creation of the earth when it was only water world. The Doctrine of Continuity thus recognised the Yorubaland as a State.

Regarding the legal Doctrine of Recognition, when an established State concluded an agreement with a territory that it had not previously recognised, it was recognising that territory as a State from that date onward. On 23 July 1888, Britain, an established State, concluded a treaty agreement with the Yorubaland, which it had not previously recognised, and Britain ratified that treaty on 16 June 1890. This meant that from 23 July 1888, the Yorubaland was recognised by Britain as a State in its own right. The 1888 Britain-Yorubaland Treaty by way of the Doctrine of Recognition made the Yorubaland an international personality.

Regarding the legal Concept of Corroboration, Britain in two official documents referred to the Yorubaland as ‘country’ meaning a State. Article 2 of the 1888 Britain-Yorubaland Treaty refers to free trade ‘with the people of Oyo and the Yoruba-speaking countries’. The 1889 Shelborne Committee Report recommended amalgamation of British-owned territories ‘excluding the Yoruba country’. The 1888 Britain-Yorubaland Treaty was British domestic law by virtue of it being made under the Foreign Jurisdiction Act 1890. The Britain-Yorubaland Treaty became Nigeria’s domestic, ‘existing law’ at independence on 1 October 1960 when Nigeria assumed all the legal obligations of Britain. The 1888 Britain-Yorubaland Treaty and the Shelborne Committee Report corroborate the existence of the Yorubaland as a State in its own right

The Yorubaland was a well-defined geographical area that used to have its own independent government. The Yorubaland is a State within the confines of Nigeria, and on that basis, the Yorubaland is entitled to exit Nigeria if it chose to do so.