Yoruba diaspora group urges UN to save Nigeria before collapse

An apex Yoruba in Diaspora organisation, Yoruba One Voice (YOV), yesterday, urged the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, Mr. Antonio Guterres, to save Yorubaland from imminent collapse.

The group, in a letter titled, “To Avert Human Tragedy, Yoruba People Seek the Conscience of World Leaders,” which was signed by the group’s Secretary-General, Adedokun Ademiluyi, said it believed in the ability of the UN to avoid possible danger currently threatening the very foundation and existence of Nigeria.

It stated: “Since 1914, the Yoruba have been subjected to the worst kind of material and spiritual afflictions by a system that stifles the voices of Yoruba people, trample on their heritage and dwarf the echoes of their hues and cries from the valley of social and cultural repression.

“Nigeria’s independence from Britain in 1960 did not offer the kind of freedom our people sought. The Yoruba people were not fully engaged on the type of government the people wanted.”

The YOV also said that Yorubaland had, in the past years, remained the target of the Fulani terrorists, saying that the Yoruba in Diaspora group will not fold its arms and watch terrorists wreaking havoc on Yorubaland.

It said: “The wave of terrorism on our land in the past 15 years has gone from grace to grass. Our indigenous territories have become a theatre of blood-letting, terrorism and all vile associated with misery.”

“In this past one and half decade, Yoruba territories have been ravaged by Fulani terrorists and Boko Haram, already categorised as some of the deadliest terror groups in the world.

“Fulani terrorists exist in West Africa, particularly Nigeria, where they seek to violently impose a theocratic state.

“They have also carried out violent attacks and mass killings in Mali, Cameroun, Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic.

“These past 15 years, Yoruba farmlands, homes and sacred groves have been invaded and devastated by the terrorists. Kidnapping, rape of women and the girl-child and invasion of worship homes are some of their trademarks.

Ademiluyi, therefore, urged the UN scribe to use his office to address the situation in the country, adding that the reason for the formation of YOV as a diaspora organisation about two years ago is to raise its voices against injustices in Nigeria.