I am Titilayo Ajoke Ojeleye, the convener and president of ‘Yoruba ni wa; omo kootu oojire (we are Yoruba; offsprings of kootu oojire).
Just a few days ago, president Joe Biden of the United States of America, joined the rest of the world to admit that the killings of thousand of Ottoman Armenians in 1915 was a genocide. For almost 100 years the world tried to deny that the killings of the helpless thousands of Armenians was genocidal even though the deaths were not denied. Just as the federal government and a few arijenimadaru amongst us today deny and defend the actions of the Fulani vandals and marauding host killing and pillaging our farming communities, we must continue to publicise and inform the world of these Fulani attrocities for proper historical perspective and posterity.
We have chosen to embark on this project/protest for basically two reasons namely-to call the attention of the world to the plight of thousands of voiceless Nigerians, particularly farmers who are being attacked, maimed and killed in genocidal proportions everyday without the Nigerian government batting an eye.
Secondly, we hope to use this avenue to solidarise and show our acceptance and support to the efforts of Professor Banji Akintoye and other well-meaning and genuine leaders of the Yoruba, to navigate the Yoruba to a safe haven within the shortest possible time.
Ours is a group that’s commited to the revival, promotion and sustenance of the the best of the attributes of the Yoruba culture.
To this end, we are in the process of putting up a structure which would serve as both an exhibition hall to showcase the paraphanelia of our tangible and intangible culture as well as a melting pot for the exchange and propagation of our values and institutions.
We are also engaged in farming and other agricultural practices including, maize, yam and cassava cultivation and animal husbandry (piggery and poultry).
Farming has always been the main occupation of our forebears. It was with agriculture that the western region during the first republic built the Cocoa House, Liberty Stadium and other infrastructural edifices which were then the envy of the black world.
We have chosen to venture into farming not only because we beleive it is a way of reigniting the experiences and lost glory of the past but also because we, as a people need to be self reliant and able to feed ourselves without undue dependence on the goodwill of others.
The recent blockade of food coming to the southern part of Nigeria by the north is a pointer to the need for Yoruba to return to their farms to ensure food self-sufficiency.
To this end we enjoin all the present crop of elected Yoruba public officials to ensure that consideration is given to our people who are trying to eke a livelihood from farming. It continues to baffle the Yoruba nation, and indeed other right thinking people all over the world why government officials they voted for have chosen to be more preoccupied with championing the interest of Fulani cattle rearers to the detriment of the masses who voted them into power.
With the present situation where elected officials have absonded their responsibilities to represent us properly, we have been compelled to self-help to ensure that we are not exterminated as a people. While these set of people wallow in self denial, we must proactively ensure that the genocidal plan of the Fulani and their government sympathisers are neutralised.
The present pattern of Fulani attacks is not new. It is the continuation of the jihad initiated by Usman dan Fodio and which has been proven to be a ruse to grab land and dominate the original land owners by the Kanuri under the Shehus of Kanem Bornu.
The land of the Hausas and indeed the Yoruba town of Ilorin were stolen from the original owners. Today, the Fulani control all the power and benefits that acrue to these places. Interestingly, they have perfected the art of hiding in the background to perpetrate their atrocities particularly by adopting the names and other mannerism of the conquered. This is what is now being replicated with the RUGA scheme which the federal government is frantically and desperately trying to force on Nigerians but which has been unequivocally rejected by the generality of Nigerians across board.
The efforts by the Fulani -backed by the federal government- to steal our god-given land will be valiantly defended, even with the last drops of our blood. To this end, we call on the original people of Nigeria in the east, middle-belt, south-south and of course the Hausa who have been subjugated for so long that now is the time for us to come together to free ourselves from the oppresive yoke of the fulani hegemonists.
We also want to commend the officers of the Ogun state Police Command who immediately released some of our members after they were arrested during our rally in Ogun State last Saturday.
In conclusion, we appeal to the general public and all well meaning individuals and government officials to support our efforts by donating land and other materials required for the proper realisation of ‘our dreams’.
-Chief (Mrs) Titilayo Ajoke Ojeleye
1st May 2021