MAN IN THE NEWS: Who will save Sunday Igboho from FG’s punishment? 

It would have been hard to believe that Sunday Adeyemo a.k.a Sunday Igboho would be a popular figure like this some years ago. Yes, he has a history of popularity in some Southwest states but no one ever thought he would be declared wanted by the federal government.

Mr Igboho was involved in the combative politics between the late political leader, Lamidi Adedibu, and former Oyo State governor, Rashidi Ladoja. He supported Mr Ladoja and acted as his bodyguard throughout the tussle.

He also led the camp of Mr Ladoja in the violence that occurred then. Mr Ladoja was illegally impeached as Oyo governor in 2006 due to a political disagreement he had with the late Mr Adedibu but was later reinstated after 11 months through a court order.

He, however, became a man in the news in January following his agitation for a Yoruba nation and subsequent clash with the Fulani community in Oyo State.

He gave a seven-day ultimatum to Fulani herders at Igangan community in the Ibarapa axis of Oyo to leave the area in the wake of the heightened insecurity in the state, as well as the South-west, as a result of the activities of kidnappers and bandits.

Mr Igboho alleged that herders have been responsible for the killings and kidnappings of the residents of Oke-Ogun and Ibarapa. This was, however, condemned authoririties, saying no citizen has the right to eject others from wherever they wished to reside in the country, but he proceeded to another community in Ogun State in February, defying government’s order.

He graduated from eviction notice on fulani in Southwest to demanding Yoruba nation alongside prominent Yoruba leaders. At the cause of doing this, he abused leaders of Yoruba land as he made demand for self-determination. Mr Igboho in the past call for violence in all his campaigns for the actualisation of Oduduwa Republic.

At some point, he  threatened an attack on critical government infrastructure and even went as far as calling on Yoruba Obas to purchase guns for their youths (and that he will even serve as middleman towards seeing to the procurement) in actualising Oduduwa Republic.

Any reasonable person will agree at that point that Mr Igboho is not as civil and many make the public to believe. Rather than call him to order, his cheer-givers continue to hail him and a non-state actor boast publicly of his access to firearms on live videos.

In fact, those cheering him are not aware of the dangers of stockpiling arms in the hands of a non-State actor not to talk of one with a serious history of violence like Sunday Igboho. It is understandable that many won’t be happy with the invasion of his house by operatives of the State Security Service, because it is as crude as the approach of Sunday Igboho towards self-determination, but is Mr Igboho a plus to the peoples’ revolution? Yes. He, however, lacks tactics.

He was campaigning for Oduduwa Republic and at the same time exposing innocent lives to the crude use of force against the government. The people of Igangan were killed in a midnight attack by gunmen many months after Mr Igboho had gone to cause crisis with Fulanis in the community.  A man fighting for the public should not place himself above all known authority while acting bizarre.

It is correct to say there is governmental failure and there is also the urgent need to call for restructuring but that could be done without calling for war. Nigerians must be afforded a one-size-fits-all approach which will present Nigeria a new marriage identity either via unity in diversity under a confederation arrangement.