₦airaland Forum

Hundreds Of Yoruba Women From The Diaspora Storm Ooni Of Ife's Palace, Insist On Yoruba Nation

Women from Uruguay, Argentina, Mexico, United Kingdom, Papua Guinea, Venezuela, Spain, France, and other countries on Wednesday visited the Ooni of Ile-Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, in his palace to canvass for the creation of Yoruba Nation.

Clad in traditional rural attire including body wrappers and beads, the women, under the aegis of Obinrin Oodua Agbaye, stormed the palace of the Ooni of Ife on Sunday.

Led by their worldwide Leader, Yeye Simisade Kuku-Onayemi and their Secretary-General, Owowunmi Babalola-Okocha, the women said the gods in Yorubaland had mandated them to commence spiritual measures that would lead to the prompt actualisation of Yoruba Nation without bloodshed, hence, their visit to their fatherland.

Omowumi, a resident of the United States, who was flanked by other Yoruba women from 37 countries, said the gods mandated them to conduct some spiritual measures in the palaces of Ooni of Ife, Alaafin of Oyo, Osemawe of Ondo, Ewi of Ado-Ekiti, Obaro of Kabba, Ayangburen of Ikorodu, Oloffa of Offa and Awujale of Ijebuland.

The women added that the outcome of the spiritual measures, which they said could not be discussed in public, shall unravel many things that would help achieve peaceful and prompt actualisation of the Yoruba Nation.

“All of us that you are seeing here today are top-notch professionals. We have medical doctors, lawyers, chartered accountants, engineers, development experts, journalists, academic dons, top bankers and entrepreneurs among us. The majority of us are working at blue-ship public and private organisations,” Kuku-Onayemi was quoted by the group, Yoruba Nation, on its Twitter page to have said.

She stated that the women are contented with what they have but are not happy with the situation of things in their country hence they are coming out to salvage their land traditionally.

Corroborating her leader, Babalola- Okocha was quoted this: “Upon consultations, we were mandated by the gods to visit the palaces of Ooni of Ife, Alaafin of Oyo, Osemawe of Ondo, Ewi of Ado-Ekiti, Ayangburen of Ikorodu, Oloffa of Offa, Obaro of Kabba and Awujale of Ijebu Land to carry our some spiritual measures that we cannot mention details in public hence our visit to the Oduduwa Source."

“When we are done with our consultations and prayers, the people of Yoruba Nation shall be surprised at the rate by which the Yoruba Nation shall come into reality without any bloodshed. It shall be amazing and the world shall be shocked,” Omowumi was said to have added.

In his remark, Yoruba Leader and Alana of Ilana Omo Oodua, Professor Banji Akintoye, who led the women to Ooni’s palace, reportedly described the action of the women as a powerful declaration signifying the departure of Yorubaland from Nigeria.

The 86-year-old member of the Second Republic Senate reportedly said, “Our women who gave birth to us have spoken. They have declared and Heaven has heard. What they have started is a powerful declaration showing the departure of the Yoruba Nation from Nigeria.

“It will be amazing and shocking by the time the declaration is made. Yoruba Nation shall be birthed and with the support of our women, our freedom day is nearer."

The Ooni, in his response to the development, reportedly highlighted the importance of women in the push for freedom, stating that the new twist to the agitation for self-determination is that women are now involved.

According to Yoruba Nation, Ooni said, “Whatever you are doing that women are not involved in cannot materialise. We are going nowhere if our women are not carried along and get involved. If you are married, and your wife is not happy with you, it is not going to work well with you unless the woman is not fighting you with sincerity.

“Women are not timid, they are warriors. From the Holy Bible, we read how Deborah fought for her people and conquered. Moremi fought and delivered the people of Ancient Ife from the Igbomekun who were our deadly adversaries. Therefore, women are key to our struggle for self-determination and we must carry them along, going forward.

“We will support our women and we are happy they are taking up the battle and picking up the gauntlets. Again, I want to say very expressly that If we fail to have the support of our women folks, we are going nowhere. Therefore, I welcome you to the source and I wish you well in your visit to other palaces in the Yoruba Nation."

The O’odua Peoples Congress, OPC, yesterday, lampooned former the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Abdurahman Dambazau (retd) for comparing the OPC as the dreaded Boko Haram, saying the former Army chief was suffering from acute dementia and gradually losing touch with the realities of the moment.


OPC in a statement on Saturday by its Publicity Secretary, Mr Yinka Oguntimehin, while reacting to the statement credited to the former Interior Minister that the OPC was the same as the dreaded Boko Haram, such statements were capable of heating up the polity and disrupting national peace.

Oguntimehin also described Dambazau as a northern irredentist and extremist popularly noted for his unguarded statements and utterances.

The statement reads: “From his statement, it is obvious that the ex-COAS is suffering from acute dementia and he is gradually losing touch with the realities of this time.

Dambazau’s statement that OPC and IPOB are very much the same as the dreaded Boko Haram was made in bad faith and such statements have raised some fundamental questions about his intentions, interests and morality as a former COAS and minister of Interior that have allegedly been supporting the bandits by offering both financial and technical support to the group.

“Such high profile ex-military officer cannot be trusted in the fight against insurgency because he had on several occasion pleaded on their behalf.

So for such a person to have said that OPC is the same as Boko Haram is not only derogatory, but it is most unfortunate, to say the least.

“Boko Haram is adjudged globally as the third most dreaded terrorist groups in the world. And up till today, it remains as such with various cases of killings across the North.

For instance, presently, Boko Haram and bandits have taken over four states in the North and Danbazau had never condemned their atrocities, he didn’t raise a finger.

“It is no doubt that he is one of their sponsors. That is why he had, rather than offering a lasting solution to the insurgency in the north and across the country, remained an ardent promoter of bandits and other terrorist groups in Nigeria.

“So, from his statement, it shows that the ex-minister is not in his right frame of mind, because when bandits killed a foremost Oba in Ondo, he didn’t talk. When other respected leaders from the north held a meeting on the critical security.

the situation in the country, he didn’t attend.”

The OPC spokesman stated further that the group has since its existence in 1994 remains one of the most dependable organizations that have been defending the interest of the people of the southwest.

He said: “OPC has never been involved in any act of insurgency, including kidnapping or killings. Our group has been at the vanguard of supporting the police and providing information that can help the police in ensuring effective security at the grassroots.
For instance, during the END SARS protests, OPC came to the rescue in the southwest and we protected the police stations and the police formations against unscrupulous rioters that had hijacked the peaceful protests.

“Recently, the OPC under our amiable leader, the Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Adams, apprehended the notorious Kidnap kingpin, Abdullah Iskilu Wakili that had been terrorising the people of Ibarapa and its environs, and we handed him over to the police.


So for somebody of Dambazau’s status to say such a group is like the Boko Haram, truly shows his mindset and level of thinking. Such a person has truly lost touch with the realities of the present time because today, the OPC has been reorganised, repackaged, and re-orientated in such a way that it has become a thorn in the flesh of bandits, kidnappers and terrorists. And today, the fear of the OPC has truly become the beginning of wisdom for people like Danbazau and his allies.”

trutharena:
ESN too are currently doing the same.

Low budget Boko Haram.

Kaduna State-based Islamic scholar, Sheikh Abubakar Gumi, has said that Fulani bandits are at war with Ansaru terrorist groups who infiltrated the northern part of the country.
According to him, the vision of the bandits living in the bush is different from the ideology of terrorist groups who infiltrated the country, maintaining that a Fulani man is not fanatical, but more concerned about survival.
He said the bandits had given the Ansaru terrorists 10 days to vacate their territory.

In a chat with The Guardian yesterday, the cleric called on government to quickly intervene, noting that their visits to the forests were yielding positive results.

Gumi said following his godly counsel, the bandits resisted attempts by the Ansaru terrorists to indoctrinate them.

He asserted that the bandits were doing what the military ought to be doing to the terrorists: fighting and killing them.

When asked how bandits could be differentiated from foreign invaders, the cleric said: “There is infiltration by Islamic terrorist groups. Yes, they have infiltrated the Fulani, but the Fulani have a vision. Theirs is to fight existential war. For example, they can’t go to market or travel to Zuru because they would be lynched; so the best thing is to get weapons to fight.

“They will say the military too is killing their children and women; so they accept the Fulani from outside to assist them. But as they are coming in, some of the elements of Islamic terrorists join them.”

Narrating how the bandits resist the terrorists’ antics, Gumi said: “When we went to Niger State, we spoke with one of the gang leaders to join in the peace process. He was even the one who negotiated the release of the Kagara boys and others.

“After we came out, he talked to the contact, telling them that they were approached by the Ansaru groups who told them not to trust me and my entourage; that we are democratic scholars and shouldn’t be welcomed. This is why I’m urging government to intervene fast. No time to waste.”

According to the cleric, the bandits’ leader replied the Ansarus that his entourage was versed knowledgeable and vast about Islam, better than the Ansarus, adding that they would continue the mediation with us.

He added: “The Ansarus later ambushed the man’s uncle and killed him. So, the bandits’ leader has given the Ansaru terrorists 10 days to vacate the bush.”

The cleric, however, disclosed that some individuals were cashing in on the security challenges in the country, where the defence budget is unaccounted.

“Whoever is in the chain of when money is made available for defence, whoever benefits, wouldn’t want the problems to stop, because defence budget is unaccounted for. I found that the resistance is from where money is made available.”

The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, says Nigerian brands like Guinness which run adverts during foreign matches must compulsorily advertise during Nigerian Premier Football League games.

The minister further stated that brands that create their adverts abroad but broadcast them on CNN and other international stations broadcasting in Nigeria will pay a fine of N100,000 each time such adverts are run.

Mohammed said this was one of the rules included in the Broadcasting Code which has been rejected by many in the industry.

The minister said on NTA’s ‘Good Morning Nigeria’ programme on Monday that this was the only way to help the local league thrive.

He said, “Let’s assume you have brought in La Liga, and during the matches, Guinness is advertised, we will compel you, we will compel Guinness to also advertise when we are playing a local league. That is the only way we can grow this industry but as can be expected, we have had very few supporters.”

He said in the event that the brand wants to run the advert on a local station like NTA, the brand would pay a N100,000 fine each time it is broadcast.

Mohammed added that adverts promoting Nigerian brands must be directed and authored by Nigerians inside the country.

The minister said  “If you do an advert in South Africa, you put it on CNN and we look at that advert and we see that the advert was not made in Nigeria but actually made in South Africa, or you see that five times a day, it is on CNN, you pay half a million to us. The half a million will go to the Content Development Fund.”
He further stated that the NBC had been asked to implement a regulation mandating exclusive licensees and broadcasters to share exclusive rights with other broadcasters.

Mohammed said this policy would ensure that Multichoice would no longer have the monopoly of broadcasting the English Premier League.

The minister added, “What is common today is to see products made in Nigeria but the advert for those products are actually probably done in South Africa or in the US. So, we amended the code to say that if a product you want to advertise in Nigeria territory is made in Nigeria, grown in Nigeria or processed in Nigeria, then you must make sure that the advert is also produced in Nigeria.

“Gulder is made, processed in Nigeria. If you go to South Africa to produce an advert which you are going to air to Nigerians because Nigerians consume Gulder, what we have amended the code to say is that for every time that advert is aired in Nigeria either on radio or television, you pay a fine of N100,000. We are not stopping you from making your production in America or South Africa but if you are going to advertise in Nigerian territory, you will pay a fine of N100,000.

In other words, if Gulder makes an advert in South Africa and it is shown on NTA, if it shows it 10 times a day, it will pay N100,000 fine 10 times.”

Mohammed stated that if any Nigerian company invests in a foreign league, the firm must invest at least 30 per cent of that money in Nigerian football.

“We went further to say that if a company should invest $1m in bringing EPL to Nigeria, that company must also be ready to spend 30 per cent of that $1m in producing a local content along the same line.

“In other words, if Maltina or Guinness decides to bring in EPL, which is English football, we have no problem with that. But they must also invest in covering our local league to the tune of 30 per cent of what he has paid,” the minister said.

Mohammed argued that until the anti-competitive and monopolistic tendencies are expunged from the broadcast sector, Nigeria would not be able to grow local content.

“The NBC has issued about 30 pay-TV licences but only one is managing to survive. Why? Because of these anti-competitive and manipulative tendencies of these foreign companies,” he said

'Miyetti Allah planning to eliminate me’ – Gov Ortom cries to Buhari

Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State has accused the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, MACBAN, of planning to eliminate him.

Ortom said the leadership of MACBAN targeted him and were planning to eliminate him.

He spoke after he met with President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House, on Tuesday.

Governor Ortom disclosed that his lawyers would petition MACBAN’s leadership.

“My lawyer is going to make a petition against the leadership of MACBAN because they came out to target me and behind the scene, they are planning to eliminate me in my own land.

“If I can’t go to the farm as governor with entire security around me then who else can go to the farm? You can imagine the pains that we have here in Benue State,” Ortom stated.

Gunmen suspected to be herdsmen had last Saturday attacked Governor Ortom at Tyo Mu along Makurdi/Gboko road.

The governor, who was attacked while on his farm, however, escaped following intervention by his security operatives.