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 endeavor, 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 a 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 favor. The heavenly warriors are arraigned in its support.
The coming and birthing of OÒDUÀ NATIONis 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 worldview 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 armored 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
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