Our Survival Depends on Ability to Stay Awake

Being The Text Of Speech Delivered By Prof Sophie Oluwole At The June 12 Anniversary, Organized By The Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) To Mark 24th Anniversary Of The June 12 Elections Titled: Oodua Peoples Congress: The Child Of Necessity In Nigeria Context, On June 12, 2017 At Excellence Hotel, Ogba. Ikeja, Lagos.

………Our very survival depends on our ability to stay awake, to adjust to new ideas, to remain vigilant and to face the challenge of change.” – Martin Luther.

The Oodua Peoples Congress, a Yoruba Pan Nationalist organization. This organization seeks to create a higher identity based on shared commonalities, such as culture, language, ethnicity, or history, across traditional national boundaries. It was formed to protect the interests of the Yoruba race and also to protect Yoruba unique cultural values.

The group was formed in 1994 by Dr. Fredrick Faseun, Gani Adams and few others, as a result of the annulment of June 12, 1993 presidential election, globally believed to have been won by Chief Moshood Abiola, who later died in prison in 1998.

During the military rules in Nigeria, Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) was one of those groups canvassing for the return of Nigeria to a democratic governance we are all enjoying today. Some years after the formation of Oodua Peoples Congress and many other socio-cultural groups and civil rights organizations, democracy took a firm root in Nigeria in 1999.

According to one of the founders of the Oodua Peoples Congress, Dr. Fredrick Faseun, he said, the OPC was formed in an attempt to redress the injustice done to the Yoruba people by the annulment of June 12 Presidential Election and to ensure political growth of Nigeria and justice for all other nationalities in the country. Dr. Fasehun said, “we see it as injustice to the Yoruba who fought for Nigeria’s unity, integrity, economic and political growth.

Although, in 1999, the group was enmeshed in factional issues through the infiltration of some government agents and political gladiators, which made many believed Gani Adams led group was dominated by young people who were revolting against the late Dr. Fredrick Fasehun. This was not completely true. Factionalization is not a new thing among Nigerian organizations, but despite the desperation of the government agents and the so called political gladiators to tear down the group. OPC was able to overcame the leadership tussle.

The struggle for the restructuring, emancipation and self-determination in Nigeria did not start during the existence of OPC. This has been in existence as old as Nigeria’s political history, from the period of amalgamation till the take off of the fourth republic in 1999 and up till now. There has been ethnicity rivalry among the Yoruba, Igbo, and Hausa since the formation of Nigeria.

Nigeria has over 250 ethnic groups, but the three largest are the Hausa, Yoruba, and Igbo, which make up more than 60% of the population.

Hausa.
The Hausa are believed to be indigenous to the Saharan Desert and migrated to Niger between 500–700 C.E. They live in Nigeria and Niger, and some Fulani people live among them.

Yoruba.
The Yoruba are the largest ethnic group south of the Sahara and the third largest in Africa. They have a common language, history, and culture and are known for their artistic traditions.

Igbo.
The Igbo are important part of Nigeria’s oil trade and played a role in the country’s independence from British rule. Most Igbo people are Christian and oppose Sharia law. They are known for their music, which includes the traditional instrument, the flute and drums, as well as Highlife, a combination of jazz and traditional music.

Other major ethnic groups in Nigeria include: Ijaw, Kanuri, Ibibio, and Tiv.

However, Nigeria States are grouped into six geo political zones, they are North Central (NC), North East (NE), North West (NW), South West (SW), South East (SE) and South (SS).

Every ethnic group has one or two socio-cultural or socio-political groups canvassing for a better change and better life for their people.

In the Hausa land, they have Arewa Consultative group, Arewa Youth Consultative group, Arewa Peoples Congress, and others

In Yorubaland, there are Afenifere, Oodua Peoples Congress, and the Yoruba Council of Elders, among others.

In the Igbo land, they have Ọhanaeze Ndigbo, Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra, Indigenous People of Biafra.

Moreover, many people had in the past misinterpreted the activities of the Oodua Peoples Congress. The group had worked diligently to flush out some parasitic elements hiding under the name of the group to perpetrate evils. Kudos to them.

Some years ago, the OPC celebrated a monumental achievement; the official launching of the Oodua House, a multi-million naira legacy project that will mark a key milestone in the organization’s 20-year history.

This will symbolize the OPC’s enduring dedication to advancing the Yoruba people and preserving their cultural heritage.

The project will stand as a beacon of progress and a tangible manifestation of the OPC’s vision for community growth and development.

This will foster unity among the Yoruba people, promoting cultural heritage, and supporting community initiatives.

The Oodua House will serve as the operational hub for the OPC, Oodua Progressive Union (OPU), and Olokun Festival Foundation (OFF)

The building is also expected to serve as a central hub for various OPC activities, including educational programmes, cultural events, and community outreach, based on the assertion of Chief Gani Adams, the National Coordinator of the Oodua Peoples Congress and the Convener of the Oodua Progressive Union.

However, this will signifie the fact that the organization is not a terrorist or arsonist organization but a social-cultural organization, contrary to how the group was painted as a bad group by some ethnic racially minded people in order to tarnish its image.

Furthermore, the rivalry among the Igbos, Hausas, and Yorubas is almost as old as the formation of Nigeria in 1914. The three ethnic nationalities vie politically for jobs, economic opportunities and control, as well as leadership.

The Igbo had lost political power after the Nigerian Civil War of 1967-1970, which made them believe they were deprived and marginalized.

The primarily muslim Hausa people began to bombard the Christian Igbos with attacks in an attempt to gain political power while they had an opportunity. The Igbo people began to fight for their own land, which they called the Biafra territory.

The Nigerian Civil War, also known as the Biafra War (July 6, 1967 through January 13, 1970), was a political-ethnic armed conflict caused by the attempted secession of the provinces of the south east of Nigeria, mostly populated by Igbo people, under the name of Biafra Republic.

It is generally believed that the origins of conflicts between the Hausa and Yoruba ethnic groups in Nigeria can be traced back to the colonial era and include a number of factors, including:

Colonial rule: The Yorubas believed the British used a “divide and conquer” strategy to create regional states that isolated the Hausa, Yoruba, and Igbo ethnic groups.

The Yorubas believed the British also encouraged the recruitment of the Hausa, Tiv, and Kanuri as “martial races” while discouraging the recruitment of the Yoruba and Igbo.

Cultural differences: The failure to respect the culture of one ethnic group by the other has been a root cause of conflict. For example, in one instance, Hausa Muslims refused to be led by a Yoruba Chief Imam because they saw the Yoruba’s indigenous cultural practices as evidence of syncretism.

Land and natural resources: Disputes over land, water, oil reserves, and solid minerals are common causes of conflict in Nigeria.

Ethnic competition: Ethnic competition and perceptions of inequality can lead to conflict.

Colonial urban design: Colonial urban designs and settlement patterns can fuel conflict.

On June 12 Anniversary:

Are you satisfied with the present political situation in the country?

Let me state briefly here that when the June 12 election, a free and fair election was annulled; an election that Nigerians let off religious sentiment, left everything and voted their conscience, when you can say bribery and intimidation wasn’t the case, when young men and women counted votes one-by-one. I wish we could play back what happened in those days before the election was annulled.

Our government is to be blamed for all the problems we are facing in Nigeria. The leadership is the problem, which had prevented the experienced right persons from leading this great country.

“June 12 is no longer a struggle but now an obligation. The people have played their own part. It is now the obligation of the beneficiaries of that struggle to set the country on a truly democratic path by deliberately replacing every stamp of military rule on Nigeria’s nationhood, including the imposed governance structure and constitution, through democratic rights and tenets. There is no alternative way to deepen democracy in Nigeria,” the statement said.

In conclusion, I want to urge other ethnic groups to emulate the good gesture of OPC by calling for a better change in Nigeria and also upholding the unity and peaceful co-existence in the country.

Prof. Sophie Oluwole,
Professor and Philosopher,
The First Doctorate Degree Holder In Philosophy In Nigeria.