From Desmond Mgboh, Kano
Second Republic politician, Tanko Yakasai has cautioned agitators for a separate Yoruba State that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has no power to cede away any part of Nigeria or to allow any part of Nigeria to break away from the present arrangement.
The elder statesman spoke against the backdrop of a recent exploit by a secessionist group, Yoruba Nation to mount the flag of Oodua nation at the Oyo State House of Assembly and the sympathy they had enjoyed so far among some Yoruba elites.
Speaking to Sunday Sun in Kano, Yakasai stressed that despite being Yoruba, this President nor any other Nigerian President has no power in the Nigeria Constitution to allow any entity or group of entities within the Nigeria setup to opt out and become an independent nation.
“As a matter of fact, there is no provision in the Nigeria Constitution that permits any part of the country to move out of the Federation as it is presently constituted” he declared.
According to Yakasai, “For anybody or group to think of opting out of Nigeria, the 1999 constitution has to be rewritten to make provision for such a scenario or for the secession of interested groups and regions from the present union”
“My advice to those of them who are interested and are bent on opting out of Nigeria, my advice to them is rather than pressurize President Tinubu to allow them to go, they should advocate for the re-writing of the nation’s constitution to pave way for them to pursue their objectives” he stated.
While acknowledging that in a democracy, every individual and group is entitled to their own views and opinions on matters on governance and politics, he insisted that their opinions and views must however be in tandem with the provisions of the constitution of the land.
When reminded of the obstacles underlying the rewriting the Nigeria’s constitution, including the fact that the nation’s constitution is a military creation, Yakasai only noted that silent is consent.
According to him, since none of these advocates had protested the exclusion of secession in the 1999 constitution, it is given that their silence is an affirmation of whatever is provided in the constitution.
Sunday Sun recalls that on Saturday, April 13th, a group 18 masked persons, dressed in army camouflages, armed with rifle, charms and Oodua nations flag unsuccessfully attempted to take over the Oyo State Government House to proclaim the emergence of an independent Yoruba Nation.
Similarly, the Yoruba self -determination group led by Banji Akintoye and Sunday Adeyemo popularly Sunday Igboho had days ago written an open letter to President Bola Tinubu seeking a peaceful breakaway of the Yoruba people from Nigeria.
The group implored the President to establish a negotiation team with them and dialogue with them within the next two months.