It was Eleanor Roosevelt who posited that no one could make you a slave
without your consent. Some of us have resolved not to continue as slaves.
And we will get our freedom. It is not a matter of if, but that of when.
We are determined to put off the Hausa/Fulani chains of bondage and be
free. We are determined, to strive, struggle and fight for as long as it
takes to break loose from the subjugation and yoke of vampire neo-
colonialists.
The struggle would take so many shapes. There would be high and lows.
There would be victories along the way and occasional setbacks. But
nothing, no force, no person or group of persons would be able to impede
the MARCH OF FREEDOM and the MARCH TO FREEDOM.
LIBERTY is a costly product. It is invaluable. But its indispensability
makes its cost easier to bear. As we engage in this fateful endeavour,
there would be a lot of crisis internally and externally. Some of our own
would fight us, label us, call us names, trivialize us, mock us and
ridicule us. That is expected. It comes with the territory. At least, that
is what History teaches us.
It was the German philosopher, Arthur Schopenhauer (1788 – 1860) who once
contended as follows:
“All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second,
it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.”
Right now, the Biafran struggle is stepping on the third stage, while the
struggle for the birth of Oòduà Nation is in the middle of the first
stage as defined by Schopenhauer. But contemporary events are conspiring
to launch it into the second stage. I, however hope that this struggle to
be free by the Yoruba would be able to skip the second stage to the third
one. Time will however tell on this.
The year Schopenhauer died (1860) was when Theodore Herzl was born. Herzl
was the first man to moot the idea of an Israeli State in his published
work Der Judenstaat (The Jewish State) of 1896. Herzl and his ideas were
vilified by the Jewish establishment throughout Europe, and other
continents. His ideas were perceived “both as threatening their efforts
toward acceptance and integration in their resident countries and as
rebellion against the will of God.” But adamant and convinced of his
stance having analyzed the situation correctly he went ahead in a speech
on September 3, 1897 to say the following:
“At Basle I found the Jewish State, If I said this out loud today, I would
be answered by universal laughter. Perhaps in five years and certainly in
fifty years, everyone will know it.”And exactly fifty years on May 14,
1948, the Jewish State of Israel was born. And everyone has known it.
For those who seek nothing but happiness, self respect and dignity among
the Yoruba people, we have had enough “àpárí isu” in Nigeria. It is time
to embrace our DESTINY in a new but NATURAL NATION of Oòduà. It is time to
throw off the yoke of slavery and subjugation. It is time to throw away
the adornment of second class citizenship.
There are still many among the Yoruba tied to the aprons of the evil
country called Nigeria. Not because they are oblivious of its
undesirability, but because they are still hoping to help themselves with
the loot available at the center. They know Nigeria is structured in a
manner where you can be a vagabond and still be in power. They are well
aware that such behavior would be suicidal in the coming Oòduà Nation.
Those are the kind of people insisting on Yoruba remaining as part of evil
contraption called Nigeria. They are the arijenimodarus, alatenujes, often
manipulative, traitorous and diabolical. But as in all acts that are
antithetical to nature, they live on borrowed time and are draped in the
tapestry of alternative reality.
As for me, Nigeria has killed itself in my heart. Nigeria has murdered
itself in my consciousness. Nigeria has excommunicated itself from my
psyche. Even, some of the times, when I look for a straw to hold on to,
such, more often than not, turns out to be a mirage.
As I write this, the imminence of Oòduà Nation is more certain than ever
before. The Stars are aligning. The divine hand of God Almighty is
stretched out in its favour. The heavenly warriors are arraigned in its
support.
The coming and birthing of OÒDUÀ NATION is more inevitable than before.
That it would be great is not contestable. The character and nature of the
Yoruba Culture would be the engine that would drive it. Our Language would
be our lingua franca and would be spoken at the United Nation. Millions of
people across the world would as a matter of class, Civilisation and
education show off their knowledge of and the ability to speak Yoruba,
currently being taught in 115 degree awarding universities in the US
alone.
Our culture would be rejuvenated and given a pride of place. Our values
would be decontaminated to cleanse it of the reeking stains of several
decades in the dungeon of Nigeria. Our philosophical world view would
dominate our ways of life. While there would still be human foibles and
imperfections, it would be our own and we shall deal with it our own way.
Economically, we have all the resources we would ever need and more.
Socially we have our culture to fall back on. Politically, our sagacity
would engender a convenient marriage between our past, our present in
building a great future, a great Nation. The most important resource is
the human resources. It would be unleashed in a manner the world has never
seen before.
Though, force may not be mutually exclusive to every struggle for freedom,
every struggle for self determination does not necessarily have to begin
and or end with a bullet. The struggle for the emergence of Oòduà Nation
does not necessarily have to be violent and or bloody. It is better fought
with ideas, sound, logical and well thought out ideas.
While bullets can be seized, AK 47s rounded up and armoured vehicles
confiscated, ideas can never be conscripted, especially that which time
has come. It can never be rounded up, confiscated or be imprisoned. No
selfish leader no matter how rich and influential can even frustrate it.
No chain can hold down an idea. No walls can limit its movement. No army
can defeat it.
Don’t call me a Nigerian. I can’t be a citizen of an amorphous and amoebic
entity; confused, contused, oppressive, enslaving, degrading, denigrating,
dehumanizing, frustrating, murderous, unfeeling, uncaring, predatory and
destructive. No! No!!No!!! I AM NOT A NIGERIAN.
I am OMO OÒDUÀ. I am Yoruba, with a specific and unique identity. I am
from a stock of proud ancestors, with a great History, a great heritage. A
race which though, is imperfect, is PRIMUS INTER PARES. A race that is
civilized before Civilisation and that can still do great things when
cleanly, clearly and completely divorced from the tragedy called NIGERIA.
I AM NOT NIGERIAN.
I AM OODUAN!
“In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been
granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do
not shrink from this responsibility – I welcome it.
-John F. Kennedy
Please, follow me on Twitter @Oyeyemiremi
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