NN News Media Publisher, Nkiruka Nistoran, has issued a stern warning to Yoruba Nation agitator, Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho, via her X handle. Nistoran’s message was clear:
“Remove Igbo name from your agenda. We believe in a united Nigeria; handle your issues independently. Bola Tinubu is the president and can grant Yoruba Nation since he too is a Yoruba man and does not believe in one Nigeria, you betrayers. I urge security agencies to arrest these hypocrites and caution him against invoking Igbo identity in their Yoruba-centric agenda. We will not tolerate any idiot to use the Igbo name for their political agendas, never.”
This statement was prompted by Igboho’s recent expression that if Nigeria cannot function as a united entity, different ethnic groups, including the Yoruba and Igbo, should consider separation. Igboho has criticized the lack of security in Nigerian airports, noting, “Even inside the airport, there is no security. They can steal your belongings inside your bag. All these are the things dissuading people from being proud of the country, Nigeria. Things like that make us sad to identify ourselves as Nigerians. This is why we advocate for separation. If Nigeria is not working as a country, it is better we go our separate ways.”
He further elaborated on his vision for a Yoruba nation, stating, “Our (Yoruba) youths will transform Yoruba nation. Most of them have travelled across the world and they have learned a lot. If they come back to Yoruba land, the knowledge will help them build it and transform the nation like those in Europe.”
This isn’t the first instance of Igboho advocating for Yoruba secession. In April 2024, together with Prof. Banji Akintoye and Ola Ademola from the Yoruba Self-Determination Movement, Igboho sent a letter to President Tinubu, requesting the establishment of a negotiation team to discuss the Yoruba people’s exit from Nigeria. The letter outlined:
“We are acting for and on behalf of our 60 million Yoruba people of the Ekiti, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, and Oyo States, respectively, plus the Yoruba Local Government Areas of Kogi and Kwara State, and plus the Itshekiri homeland of Delta State, all together constituting the Yorubaland in Nigeria, hereby most humbly place our crowning request before Your Excellency as follows:
That the Nigerian Federal Government shall, within the next two months, but not later than June 15, 2024, inform us Yoruba Self-determination Movement that the Nigerian Federal Government has graciously agreed to our proposal for negotiation and that they have set up a negotiation team that will meet and have a dialogue with our Yoruba Nation’s negotiation team.
That the Nigerian Federal Government shall invite the United Nations, African Union, and the Economic Community of West African States, to send observers to the negotiation meetings.”
