• Pushes for immediate restructuring of the country
• S’West stakeholders decry insecurity across region

Pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has called for caution over a bill seeking to confer indigeneship on a person who has stayed in a particular place for upward of 10 years “to avoid the possibility of aggravating ethnic tension and violence”.

Meanwhile, in response to the worsening security crisis in South-West Nigeria, a security summit organised by Yoruba Assembly, in collaboration with several pan-Yoruba groups, with delegates from Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ekiti, Ondo, Kwara, Kogi, Edo and Delta states, called for urgent action against the escalating insecurity in the zone.

The House of Representatives recently passed, for a second reading, some bills amending certain sections of the 1999 Constitution (as amended). One of the bills sponsored by Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu, and six other lawmakers, underwent a second reading on Wednesday, March 26, 2025.

Also, last Tuesday, the Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar, advocated the elimination of the policy that tends to distinguish indigenes and non-indigenes in any part of the country. He made the call in Sokoto when he paid Sallah homage to Governor Ahmad Aliyu of Sokoto State.

He further urged state governors to emulate Aliyu by abolishing the non-indigene status in their respective states ‘in the interest of the national cohesion’.

The Indigene Status Bill seeks to alter relevant sections of the Constitution to guarantee indigene status to a person by reason of birth or continuous residence for not less than 10 years or by reason of marriage.

Afenifere, through its National Publicity Secretary, Jare Ajayi, kicked against the proposal.

According to the pan-Yoruba group, in modern times, there are basically four categories of residents in any particular state or country: natives, citizens, residents and visitors.
Maintaining that the kind of alteration being sought by the lawmakers and the Sultan would aggravate mutual mistrust in the country and may further engender communal clashes, Ajayi recalled that a similar move was made in 2020 by then Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege.

Afenifere believes that the motive behind the push for indigeneship could flow from hegemonic desire, territorial expansion, changing status of the land, ecology and the desire for power and influence.

It called on the National Assembly not to pass the bill “but concentrate efforts on restructuring the country in such a way that every part would have a sense of belonging and be in a position to determine its affairs as much as possible within a truly federal nation”.

YORUBA Assembly also emphasised the need to develop a unified strategy to combat violent attacks by armed herdsmen and other criminal elements.

The Western Nigeria Security Summit, held in Ikeja, Lagos, also expressed concern that the insecurity was not only posing a threat to lives and property but also to food production.

In his address, a member of the Planning Committee, Adewale Adeoye, emphasised the urgency of the situation. He described the crisis as an existential threat to indigenous people, whose ancestral lands and cultural heritage were under siege.

He said: “The South-West is facing an asymmetric war. Our people are crying in pain, and on the verge of despair. But we will not surrender. We are ready to resist, to defend our land, and to reclaim our sovereignty.”

The summit also recognised that federal and state efforts to curb insecurity had been inadequate, leaving many communities vulnerable to attacks, kidnappings and displacement.

It said farmers, traders and even traditional rulers had been targeted, which “is seriously destabilising the region”.

In his keynote address, Chairman of Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG), Olawale Oshun, stressed the importance of state policing and local intelligence gathering in tackling insecurity.

He said, “State policing is crucial, but beyond that, we need committed leadership at all levels. Every square inch of our land must be governed and protected. Local intelligence is key, our people must be empowered to provide information to security agencies.”

National President of Afenifere Youth Council, Eniola Ojajuni, shared his kidnap ordeal in February, highlighting the hasty need for stronger security measures.