OODUA BILL OF RIGHTS

WHEREAS The Yoruba nation with a population of over 40 million people
constitutes a major ethnic group among the various nationalities within
the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

WHEREAS The Yoruba nation was never conquered or subjugated by any
nationality in the present day Nigeria.

WHEREAS The development of the Yoruba nation has been retarded for over
600 years by the transatlantic slave trade, British colonial rule,
Nigerian civilian autocracy and military dictatorship.

WHEREAS The Yoruba was forced militarily by the British colonial
adventurers to be part of the territory that is now known as Nigeria.

WHEREAS At the end of the colonial rule the Yoruba nation agreed to
remain within Nigeria as a Self-governing nation on the basis that the
country would be administered as a Federal Republic.

WHEREAS Nigeria has been run as a Unitary State thereby making it
impossible for the Yoruba people to develop at their own pace within
Nigeria.

NOW THEREFORE The Yoruba people have hereby resolved as follows:

* To ensure that the Yoruba people in Lagos, Oyo, Ogun, Ondo, Osun,
Ekiti, Kwara and Kogi States are brought together as a distinct
federating unit within the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

* To ensure that Nigeria is administered as a Federal Republic where the
federating units are allowed to develop on their own resources and at
their own pace.

* To defend the fundamental rights of the Yoruba people including their
right to self determination.

* To struggle for the restructuring of Nigeria on the basis of equality
of ethnic nationalities.

* To demand for equitable representation of ethnic nationalities in all
public institutions including the Armed forces, police and security
agencies.

* To resist the domination of other nationalities by any group or
section of the country.

* To respect and protect the interest of ethnic minorities in Nigeria.

* To protect the interest of Yoruba people in Nigeria and abroad.

* To promote Accountability, Rule of Law and Fundamental rights in
Yoruba land.

* To ensure that the resources of Yoruba land are harnessed to provide
for basic amenities and social infrastructure for the people.

* To work towards the eradication of illiteracy and unemployment in
Yoruba land.

* To adopt any method or strategy deemed fit for the realization of
the Oodua Bill of Rights.

The interest is only in protecting the rights of the yorubas, and not of all; meaning it can condone other peoples being trampled upon, and infact might one say they may even encourage it?

I think however, that our neighbours are coming of maturity, they have discovered the "I" and the meaning of it, but they have yet been unable to transfer that lov eof self a step further, to a love of neigfhbour, wherein we seek perfection!

Yes, we must first love ourselves if we are going to be able to love our neighbours, but we must take it a step further, and so we have don ein Biafra./

We speak of a Biafra, for all men, of all ehtnic nationalities, of all religions, of all races, for the rich as well as for the poor, where all men are equal.

We seek for a nation where participation is voluntary and not by force, but by the consensus of the peoples, fully rescindable by a vote fo the majority at any point in time.
We advocate total resource controol for the ethnic minorities.

How about taking some of the blame on your selves, afterall, no one forced the yorubas to sell their people into slavery, as far as I know it was done for wealth by the kings etc.

Furthermore, the trans atlantic slave trade depended on the yorubas active particpation as the europeans never went inland on slav eraids by themselves.

I personally think the idea of uniting the yorubas in the diaspora should be taken with a pinch of salt, as this sounds like it could be an oppotrtunity to play on the emotions of the children of the former slaves. Vis a vis, before we know what this ploy will make it sound that every slave was taken only from yoruba land, rather than from the whole west coast of Africa, and also it will tend to over inflate the importance of the yorubas in this sense.