Chukwudi Nweje, Lagos
Non-Yoruba people living and doing business in the South-West region have been told to disabuse their minds of fear of losing their investments should Nigeria disintegrate.
The assurance was given by Dr Amos Akigba, Chairman, Yoruba Global Alliance (YGA), during the maiden press conference and public presentation of the group, in Lagos, on Thursday.
He noted that non-Yoruba irrespective of where they are from will be free to continue living and doing business in the South-West without fear of intimidation, even if Nigeria breaks up.
He said: ‘If the Igbo nation eventually becomes Sovereign, all Igbo investments in Yoruba Kingdoms shall continue to be owned and operated by their Igbo owners who opt to remain with us just like several Yoruba, French, Japanese or Congolese nationals resident in the United States or Britain. The same, we believe, should apply to Fulani, Kanuri, Tiv. Hausa, Birom or Ijaw nationals doing business in the Igbo or Yoruba nation. We wish to emphasise that all nationalities currently yoked together in the Nigerian project should see themselves as brothers and sisters created equal by God. And if in the final analysis, we have to separate and live in different Sovereign states, we should remain friends in love and harmony. We should remember at all times that as at today there are millions of Russians living in countries that have separated from the former USSR and vice versa.’
Akigba said YGA is not out to compete with other Yoruba organisations but to collaborate with them to promote Yoruba agenda.
He added: ‘Our organisation, the Yoruba Global Alliance is dedicated to follow in the path of our noble and fearless leaders who spent their talents, energy, resources and all their skills for the advancement and emancipation of our race. We are, along with other serious-minded Yoruba Organisations, poised to give genuine and focused leadership to our hundreds of millions of compatriots in our homeland and the Diaspora. We applaud and respect every organisation dedicated to the Yoruba cause and also respect whatever methods such organisation[s] [choose] to achieve their goals. We are determined to forge alliances with all Groups and Associations within and outside Nigeria whose goal is for peaceful negotiations to resolve the endless crisis that had plagued the Nigeria country over the last hundred years.’
He said YGA, which is a body of concerned professionals is committed to among other things, security and safety for Yoruba kingdoms, empowerment of Yoruba youths, provision of enabling environment for economic development and prosperity, creation of vibrant middle class as a veritable agent of change among others.
Notable personalities the presentation include, Chief Tola Adeniyi, Dr Fred Egbeyegbe, Otunba Abdullateef Owoyemi, and Mrs Folake Marcus Bello among others.