SUNDAY IGBOHO AND THE NEMESIS OF INSENSITIVITY AND MISREPRESENTATIONS By Doyin Awosanya

In the recent times, Nigeria has almost becoming a centre of multifaceted drama ranging from Chidinma/Ataga sexual scandal to Nnamdi Kano interception, Governor Matawale’s defection and Sunday Igboho’s invasion by the secret police.

In a Gestapo way, Igboho’s was fiercely occupied by the team of security agents in a bid to get him arrested. The inevitable, anticipated encroachment of Igboho’s house couldn’t have been completed without human and material casualties. According to reports, two of Igboho’s security aids were killed with a DSS official sustaining injury in a gun duel.

However, it is funny and still baffling to note that a man of Sunday Igboho’s standing could be invaded so cheaply and have his family members and security aids arrested by DSS without a fight from Igboho repelling his assailants. You want to ask what happens to his so called power of spiritism, spirituality and spiritualism?

It is ridiculous to fathom that Igboho was somewhere in his house when the security invaded his palatia edifice but chosen to hide whilst the confrontations, ransacking and gun duel lasted without a bit of show of strength. That could only depicts a trait of timidity and cowardice. A true warrior don’t go down without some indelible mark of bravery and courageous escapades.

Before now, there were these crises  between Yoruba and Hausa/Fulani community in Shasha market, Ibadan, Oyo state early this year which claimed some lives and massive destructions of properties. Recently, similar offensive occurrence was recorded in Igangan community, in the area of Ibarapa local government, Oyo state where the community was invaded and made to witness alleged reprisal attacks from suspected Fulani herders.

In all of the above dastardly violence, we never witnessed Igboho demonstrating his spiritual prowess in defense of Yoruba people. Between the two bloody clashes, he was no where to be found except for his usual blabby, grandstanding, show of stardom at public rallies and empty boast after every recorded bloody crises would have been over. On records, he has never led any successful battle against Yoruba invaders except for his usual noise making in both social and conventional media.

From the beginning of his deceitful escapades, I never hides my opposition to his crafty misrepresentations but always predicted his early fall from the heights of his temporal glorification. That Igboho would always found wanting at the scenes of violent clashes against Yoruba people but too quick to surface at public rallies for self-glorification raises some salient questions against his genuine commitments to self-determination in Yoruba land.

You want ask if Sunday Igboho really and truly worth leading a struggle at all? Did he really possesses  the combined dexterity, sagacity, intellectual and spiritual capacities to lead a separatist agenda? Out of intuitive curiousity, you also want ask if Igboho is the type of warrior Yoruba requires to lead a battle if he can’t successfully lead one against his family members? Of course, a man who cannot successfully defend his family members cannot defend a race and lead a regional struggle.

On a more critical appraisal devoids of sentimental observations, you want ask why no single media from both prints and electronics in the southwest has not deemed it fit to do a run down on Sunday Adeyemo’s antecedents. For someone to lead a struggle on behalf of a race requires comprehensive background details of the would be campaigner. A deliberate silence on the pedigree of Sunday Igboho could not but raises a question of conspiracy and attempt to cover up alleged violent, brutal and thuggery services of Igboho to many political class in the past.

This is not an attempt to ruffled feathers here but to seek clarifications over the real identity of Sunday Igboho particularly before now. We are living in a hypocritical world where truth can easily be suppressed for primordial and parochialism. Otherwise, you want to ask why no one is willing to narrate the past of a man called Sunday Igboho.

This is not what Yoruba is cut out for and I strongly do not think Yoruba deserves to be led by a man of controversial profiles and questionable characters. To those truly agitating for Yoruba nation, they need to be blunt by asking who is Sunday Igboho? Where is he coming from? What is he pedigree? Did he really qualified to lead Yoruba race and who and who indeed resolved with him to lead Yoruba out of Nigerian nation?

Yoruba comprises of over 55 million population. Statistics from National Population Commission (NPC) confirmed this. To this end, you want to ask at what points did we resolved to pathway from Nigeria, at what forum, through what medium and who and who mandated Sunday Igboho to lead Yoruba in a controversial treasonous agitation? These are critical, germain questions we need to first and sincerely ask ourselves before hypocritically falling for baseless, needless struggle.

Except for the myopia irredentists ignorantly following the crowd, Igboho can be said to have been fighting a wrong cause that receives no popular blessings and support of Yoruba mandates. Wittingly and unwittingly, he can be said to be indulging in a self-imposed struggle  basically for selfish reasons and self aggrandizement.

By implications, this could not but turns him in as separatist, rebel and secessionist every constituted authority would be look for questioning. Unconsciously, there are those in one fell swoop falling for treasonous crime and offences in the name of self-determination that receives no approval and general endorsements from the stakeholders.

Like Nnamdi Kano, Igboho innocuous agitations and continuous proclamation of Yoruba nation at various public rallies constitute not only affront to corporate existence of Nigerian nation but a clear declaration of conflicts and disunity in the land.

To many irredentists who failed to appreciate the strength and unity in diversity will certainly not see anything wrong in Igboho’s repugnance to lack of credible leadership, good governance, equity, justice and accountability that his sloganeering tends to be assuaging and canvassing but through a wrong channel. 

In his usual pettiness and fit of rage, he would arrogantly abused and insult any one perceived to be indifference to his selfish separatist campaigns and subsequently disparaged their characters regardless of their standings in the society.

From Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi to the general overseer, Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor, Enoch Adeboye and many other dignitaries have suffered remarkable invectives and vituperations from Igboho’s unguided outbursts. Again, people blindly towing along his incendiary comments wouldn’t see anything wrong in a man selfishly sailing through a dangerous mission they are all oblivious and blindfolded.

That Igboho could easily be subdued and set on the run in spite his constant bravado, boastfulness and display of spiritual armor in the public can only betrayed the calibre of person he claimed to be. Of course, Igboho is not, and has never been who he said he is. He only managed to misled the gullibles and capitalised on the poverty and corruption in the land to ride roughshod on the back of unconscious Yoruba people.

To his gullible followers, he’s a superhero, freedom fighter and invincible worrior. To discernible minds, Sunday Igboho is nothing but a mere necromancer, egocentric and self-centered man going about his inordinate ambitions with infantile deceit.

For the avoidance of doubt, Yoruba never calls for separation from Nigerian state. What Yoruba seeks are good governance and accountable leadership through political restructuring that promotes and confers autonomous powers and responsibilities on each component of the federation. What Yoruba seeks is resource control by each state of the federation with independent power to harness, manage and dispense same resources to the optimal benefits of the people without undue interference, dictate and control from the central government. These are the political and socio-economic re-arrangements Yoruba craves for but not secession from the corporate existence of Nigerian state as being championed by Sunday Igboho and his irredentist cohorts.

Finally, I have fervently on several fronts made my position clear and unambiguous. I don’t believe in secessionism and separatism. I am an advocate of indissoluble United state of Nigeria that thrives in unity, harmony and steady progress to national emancipation.

DOYIN AWOSANYA

Public analyst & social commentator