August 03, (THEWILL) – A coalition under the aegis of the Yoruba Appraisal Forum (YAF) has petitioned the United Nations (UN), its five permanent members, the European Union (EU), the African Union (AU) and other powerful nations over a plan by the umbrella body of Yoruba self-determination groups, Ilana Omo Oodua, to present a petition against the Nigerian government at the 76th General Assembly of the UN.
The YAF addressed the petition to r UN, the European Union (EU), African Union (AU) and other countries across the world.
The 76th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 76) will open on Sept. 14.
YAF in a statement by its National Coordinator, Chief Adesina Animashaun, urged the UN to bar Ilana Omo Oodua and its allies from attending the UNGA to present its petition against the federal government.
It said allowing them would escalate insecurity and tension in Nigeria.
“The ultimate objective of this plan by the group is to achieve nothing salutary or beneficial to the people of Nigeria but to further their evil design to undermine and bring down the country and the incumbent administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, out of sheer malice over the forthcoming 2023 general elections,” the statement read.
The Forum emphasised that Ilana Omo Oodua’s endorsement of the recent petition by the Nigerian Indigenous Nationalities Alliance for Self-Determination (NINAS) urging the government to conduct a referendum, is only part of the strategy by the group to legitimise its plan for the violent dissolution of Nigeria.
YAF, in the petition signed by its National Coordinator, Adeshina Animashaun, accused Omo Oodua of funding “the violent activities of the self-styled Yoruba Nation agitator, Sunday Igboho, currently undergoing trial in the Benin Republic following his recent arrest at that country’s airport while attempting to flee.”
YAF further alleged in its petition that contrary to the Omo Oodua’s claim that the UN General Assembly would be an opportunity to explain the rationale behind the Yoruba nation agitation to world leaders, its plans “is to use the platform to get undeserved sympathy and secure support from unsuspecting countries across the world, which are largely uninformed about the true situation of things in Nigeria.”
It said allowing such petition against the Nigerian Government would send the wrong signal to its citizens and worsen the nation’s insecurity challenges and secession agitations.
THEWILL reports that the Ilano Omo Oodua, umbrella body of Yoruba self-determination groups, had petitioned the UN in July over its demand for a separate and independent Yoruba Nation.
Ilano Omo Oodua led by Prof. Banji Akintoye in July also endorsed a petition by the Nigerian Indigenous Nationalities Alliance for Self-Determination (NINAS) urging the Nigerian Government to conduct a referendum.
YAF, however, said that resort of the group to present a petition against the Federal Government was only part of its strategy to legitimise plans for the dissolution of the Nigerian Federation.
It wrote: “YAF will never support any plan that will destabilise the nation and will continue to preach peace and unity of Nigeria.
“These self-styled unrepentant critics of the Federal Government of Nigeria through their frequent acerbic and destructive outbursts and attacks against the government, coupled with the violence they unleash on innocent Nigerians must be stopped.
“We are aware these agitators and individuals are behind the recent violence in different parts of the South-West of Nigeria, they have a more sinister objective of destabilising the Nigerian nation for the selfish political end of those bankrolling them.
“It is very clear that the masterminds of this violence are bent on throwing Nigeria into total chaos to hasten the collapse of governments at both the state and federal levels to enable them to execute their evil plans for Nigeria ahead of the 2023 general elections.”
The forum, therefore, urged the various countries also petitioned “to prevail on the UN Security Council to take careful, appropriate and urgent steps to deal decisively with these elements bent on fomenting trouble in the South-West of Nigeria and the country at large”.
It urged the UN to disregard and discountenance the disguised antics and plans of the unpatriotic self-styled freedom fighters and their cohorts
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