Adewale Adeoye
More than 100 Pan-Yoruba and Itsekiri groups from across the South West and adjoining Yoruba-speaking communities converged in Lagos on Tuesday in what conveners described as a decisive move to end factionalism and present a united front against terrorism, poverty and external interference in Yorubaland.
The two-day engagement, hosted by veteran journalist and rights advocate Adewale Adeoye, brought together rival leaders and representatives who have spent years trading accusations on social media and in public.
In attendance were Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Adams; representatives of Professor Banji Akintoye and self-determination agitator Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho; as well as leaders and delegates from Afenifere Renewal Group, Oodua Peoples Congress factions including OPC-New Era, OPC-Reform and OPC-Faseun, Apapo Oodua Koya, Yoruba Council of Elders, Agbekoya, Oodua Nationalist Coalition, Oodua Liberation Movement, Itsekiri National Congress, Think Yoruba First, Ilana Omo Oodua, COSEG, YATA, and dozens more.
Participants came from Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ondo, Ekiti, Kwara, Kogi, and Yoruba-speaking areas of Edo and Delta states.
The mood inside the hall was tense at the start. For years, supporters of Gani Adams and Igboho’s Iru Ekun security outfit have clashed over strategy, control and public statements, while different OPC blocs have accused one another of hijacking the Yoruba struggle.
That friction, delegates agreed in a communique signed by Adeoye, Chief Adekunle Adesokan and Alhaji Jubril Ogundimu and reviewed on Wednesday, has become a weapon in the hands of those who benefit from a divided South West.
“The social media have become weapons for the distortion and destruction of Yoruba/Itsekiri history, values and heritage,” the communique read. “In the past few years, there have been unnecessary divisions, inter-group friction and the sponsor of hate by internal and external interests in Yorubaland which comes in the form of faith-driven hate speeches which threaten the long standing culture of religious freedom in Yorubaland.”
The groups identified a cluster of threats they said are now existential.
They cited invasions by extremists and armed gangs that kidnap, rape and kill across Yoruba territories; growing religious intolerance; worsening poverty compounded by erratic electricity and what they called the exploitative practices of Distribution Companies; and what they described as deliberate attempts to set Christians, Muslims and traditional worshippers against one another.
Their central resolution was cessation of hostilities.
Delegates resolved that attacks on Gani Adams, Banji Akintoye, Sunday Igboho and other self-determination leaders “must henceforth stop,” and that all Pan-Yoruba groups must work together for peace, prosperity and harmony. They warned that any individual or group that continues public attacks, online or offline, “will be seen as undermining peace and unity in Yorubaland.”
A Working Group on Peace Building and Conflict Prevention, they said, will be set up by the conveners and expanded to meet all warring factions.
On governance and security, the meeting threw its weight behind democracy and credible elections, expressed solidarity with the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria, DAWN, and urged South West states to deepen regional integration.
They also called for urgent federal action on insecurity, specifically the speedy implementation of state police, and for community-led defence structures by Yoruba and Itsekiri indigenous peoples.
Traditional rulers were urged to resist petty rivalry and focus on the social, economic and cultural upliftment of their people.
On infrastructure, delegates proposed concrete projects to link the South West with Kogi, Kwara, Edo and the Itsekiri of the Niger Delta, including the development of a Warri-Lagos water and railway corridor for trade and cultural exchange.
Energy featured prominently.
The communique condemned what it called the “wicked exploitation of Yoruba people by DISCOs,” describing the companies as “incompetent” and “enemies of Yoruba people” whose drive for profit is undermining industrial growth. The worsening blackouts, delegates argued, are deepening poverty and driving young people into insecurity.
The groups also reaffirmed commitment to ethnic self-determination as provided in the United Nations Charter, saying it remains the surest path to political, economic and cultural freedom for the Yoruba nation.
“By God’s grace, Yoruba will unite and be very strong to face the future as one collective voice against internal and external enemies,” Adeoye, the host, said in his closing remarks.
Nigeria has seen a spike in kidnappings and armed attacks along highways and farms in the South West over the last three years, with security agencies and community groups often working at cross purposes.
At the same time, the region’s economy continues to grapple with power deficits, despite being home to the country’s commercial capital.
Previous attempts at Yoruba unity have faltered over personality clashes and competing visions, but Tuesday’s meeting was notable for the physical presence of previously estranged camps under one roof.
Whether the new peace committee can hold remains to be seen. For now, the message from Lagos was clear: the era of public insults between Yoruba groups is over, and survival demands a common front.
