ETI-OSA Bar Forum Expresses Sadness Over Delay Compensating #EndSars Victims, Proposes Way Forward To End Ethnic Disunity
By ADEOLA ABIOLA, Lagos
Full Text Of Eti-Osa Forum Statement At A Press Conference held on March 19, 2021:
150 DAYS AFTER LEKKI MASSACRE, SUNDAY IGBOHO’S DECLARATION OF YORUBA NATION, DOKUBO ASARI AND RALPH UWAZURIKE’S BIAFRAN CUSTOMARY GOVERNMENT AND 24 HOURS TO EXPIRATION OF 72 HOURS’ QUIT NOTICE OF AREWA YOUTHS TO YORUBA PEOPLE: IS NIGERIA SLEEPING ON A ROLLYING BICYCLE
Being the Text of Emergency State of the Nation at the Press Gallery of the Lagos Court of Arbitration, 2A, Remi Olowude Street, Maruwa, Lekki, Lagos State held on 20th March, 2021 by 1pm.
SALUTATIONS
Great ladies and gentlemen of the press, it is our pleasure to welcome you to this Emergency State of the Nation Press Conference as we examine latest developments in our body polity. It is clear as noonday that we are passing through one of the most turbulent periods in the history of our nation .
150 DAYS AFTER 20TH OCTOBER, 2020 LEKKI MASSACRE: IS JUSTICE IN SIGHT FOR THE MATYRS OF THE STRUGGLE?
Today, 20th March , 2021 is exactly 150 days after the incident of the Lekki Massacre at the Lekki Toll Gate where young #EndSARS protesters were slain by the Nigerian Army, based on admission of Major General Ibrahim Taiwo , who admitted under cross-examination before the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry into Compensation and Restitution for SARS-Related Victims and Other Related Matters that live bullets were employed against peaceful protesters. As we speak, there is no justice for the slain matryrs , 150 days.
This is despite the claim of the Federal Government of Nigeria, to whom the Nigerian Army reports to , that it is awaiting the report of the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry into Compensation and Restitution for SARS-Related Victims and Other Related Matters.
It is sad to note that the Panel , which was constituted by Lagos State Government, despite the report of the Forensic Expert not admitted, relied on an inexistent report to grant repossession of the Lekki Toll Gate to the Lekki Concession Company Limited, despite the investigation of the Lekki Shooting not yet concluded.
To add insult to injury, the #OccupyLekki Protest staged by youths to protest this annoying order of the Panel was repressed by the heaviest deployment of Police in recent times in Lagos State.
On the 20th October, 2021 , a Memorial Walk in honour of the Lekki Shooting Matryrs was broken up by the again and Six Arrested Protesters spent 5 days in Police custody before being released.
As at today, there is ongoing renovation at the Lekki Toll Gate. Indeed , Lagos State Government and Lekki Concession Company has moved on, more or less on the back of the bones and skeletons of the slain matryrs.
Who is really afraid of the truth about the Lekki Shooting? Why the constant repression of protests on the Lekki Shooting Matter?
We want to state clearly that we will ensure that we obtain justice on the Lekki Shooting within the armbit of the law.
SUNDAY IGBOHO’ S DECLARATION OF YORUBA NATION: A BEACON OF HOPE?
We are seized of media reports of the declaration of Independence of Oduduwa Nation by Yoruba self-determination activist, Sunday Adeyemo , popularly known as SUNDAY IGBOHO. At a well-attended Press Conference chaired by Professor Banji Akintoye , Sunday Igboho was quoted to have made the following statement viz:
“As it stands now, we are no longer under Nigeria. If they don’t intervene, it will go beyond control. We have gone beyond the point where we keep quiet; we are no longer scared to voice out.
“We are not safe anywhere, we can’t sleep in peace, we can’t travel in peace, what have we done? Are we slaves? We don’t do wrong by existing, we only chose the wrong leaders and we are saying enough is enough!
“Tincan in Lagos, Apapa, the directors are Fulani men. The two ports we have, the controllers are Fulanis. We don’t want them anymore!
“The borders that NIGERIAN Government closed, we are opening it all, we are no longer interested in being part of Nigeria!
“All our Kings are solidly behind us, any of them that want to deny it should make a press conference, let’s see.
“Start coming home, it is time! We have suffered enough, let’s not fight among each other, let’s unite for a common cause, it is time to come home. That’s all I have to say.”
Sunday Igboho’s declaration of “Yoruba Nation” has generated a stir among the rank and file of the working people of Yoruba ethnic extraction with some drawing the conclusion that within the enclave of the Independent “Oduduwa Republic”, the current excruciating economic situation will be a story of the past.
However, a class-conscious assessment of the statements credited to Sunday Igboho will find a quest for territorial control of borders , sea ports and airports as well as other commanding heights of the economy by the ruling elite of the Yoruba region other than a egalitarian running of these assets in the interests of the workers , peasants , youth and the poor.
However, I concede the right to self -determination to any part of the imperialist contraption named “Nigeria” , which from 1914 is a prisonhouse of ethnic nationalities .
The blame for the heavy ethno-religious vitroil can only be placed at the feet of the current President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government of Nigeria , which with its unidirectional nepotism in appointments , conduct and activities have deepened the ethnic acrimony in the country.
To further evidence the lopsided nature of Sunday Igboho’s call for all Yoruba sons and daughters to “come home”, will Professor Yemi Osibanjo, the current Vice-President of Nigeria , who is of the Yoruba ethnic extraction vacate his exalted bourgeois position to heed the vacuous call of Sunday Igboho for “Oduduwa Republic”? It is needless to say that the answer is NO. It is the ordinary workers , peasants , artisans and youth of the region that will be at the receiving end of any ethno-religious reprisals that breaks out in the period ahead.
DOKUBO ASARI AND RALPH UWAZURIKE’S BIAFRAN CUSTOMARY GOVERNMENT: A SIGNAL OF THINGS TO COME?
It is in this light that we would equally examine the fresh alliance between ASARI DOKUBO and Ralph Uwazurike based on the former ‘s declaration of “BIAFRAN CUSTOMARY GOVERNMENT”.
It is curious to know that the Map of BIAFRAN CUSTOMARY GOVERNMENT of ASARI DOKUBO encompasses the present day South -South of Nigeria. Needless to say, ASARI DOKUBO made name as an armed Niger Delta militant.
It will be recalled that Nnamdi Kanu’s Indigenous People of Biafra’s “Map of Biafra” came under criticism from some quarters for being inclusive of the South-South region of Nigeria.
How did it now come to be that a Niger Delta militant is the one spearheading the “Biafra Customary Government”? Why is Ralph Uwazurike of the Movement for Actualisation of the State of Biafra(MASSOB) fame striking alliance with ASARI DOKUBO?
These are pertinent questions that should worry any serious observer of the State of the Nation. Why should the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government of Nigeria dismiss the emergence of the “BIAFRAN CUSTOMARY GOVERNMENT” with a wave of hand , when it fully knows the antecedent of the promoter as a Niger Delta militant? Is the regime safely sleeping under a burning roof?
24 HOURS’ TO EXPIRATION OF 72 HOURS’ NOTICE TO QUIT TO YORUBA PEOPLE IN NORTHERN REGION: WHAT RESPITE?
Today, 20th October, 2021 marks 24 hours to the expiration of the 72 HOURS’ ultimatum issued by Arewa Youths Congress led by one SHETTIMA to Yoruba people living in the Northern region of Nigeria.
We are quick to pose the question whether the ultimatum issued by Arewa Youths Congress that Yoruba people should vacate the Northern region within 72 hours is in the interest of the working people of Northern region itself?
For all intents and purposes, the Arewa Youths Congress led by SHETTIMA wants the world to believe that it is working to defend the interests of the people of Northern region.
However, the crucial question to ask is : which class of people of the Northern region of Nigeria is the Arewa Youths Congress defending?
In the event of mass Exodus of Yoruba People from Northern region of Nigeria, will the big business elite of Yoruba extraction move their banks , telecommunications and manufacturing firms along with them? The clear answer is NO.
In addition, in the situation where the people of Yoruba extraction in the Northern region of Nigeria refuses , fails and neglects to heed SHETTIMA ‘s 72 hours ultimatum to leave, will SHETTIMA still be innocent in the eyes of the law , where there are pogroms and killings to enforce his order?
These are questions posed to all security agencies and the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government of Nigeria.
WHY THE NBA NATIONAL LEADERSHIP MUST RISE TO THE OCCASION?
We call on the Mr. Olumide AKPATA -LED NBA National leadership to rise to the occasion and provide a concerted action against this wave of degenerating ethno-religious tensions and insecurity. We are now seized of the sad death of an ANAMBRA State-based lawyer , who was killed by his abductors in their den. As we speak, branches of the NBA in ANAMBRA State have resolve on a Court Boycott and Mass Protest on Monday, 22nd March, 2021.
This sad incident occurred less than 24 hours after the completion of the National Executive Committee Meeting of the Nigerian Bar Association held in Uyo.
The NBA National leadership must take bold positions on the State of the Nation and organise regular State of the Nation Press Conferences to voice out the position of the Bar.
WHAT IS NEEDED TO BE DONE?
1. RESPECT FOR THE RIGHT TO SELF-DETERMINATION.
The right to self -determination must be respected as same is provided for in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Deployment of force against SELF-DETERMINATION activists will only exarcebarate the already tensed situation.
2. GUARANTEE OF PROTECTION OF LIVES AND PROPERTIES OF ORDINARY NIGERIANS
The fate of the lives and properties of ordinary workers, youth , peasants , artisans and the poor of Yoruba extraction issued 72 HOURS’ NOTICE TO QUIT by the SHETTIMA -led Arewa Youths Congress is in the hands of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government of Nigeria, before and after the ultimatum.
The President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government of Nigeria will be held accountable for any loss of lives and properties as it has the constitutional obligation to defend same.
3.NEED FOR ALL -NIGERIA PEOPLE’S SUMMIT
What is urgently needed to combat the degenerating ethnic and religious divisions engulfing the county is for the convocation of an All-Nigeria People’s Summit wherein the Representatives of professional associations, labour unions, artisans’ associations, ethnic organisations would discuss the issues of self-determination, a new People’s Constitution among others.
OLADOTUN HASSAN ESQ.
Chairman
AYO ADEMILUYI ESQ.
Secretary
