Why Awolowo picked an Igbo man as running mate in 1979 presidential election

By Rasheed Audu, 19th October, 2025

Credit: Ethnic African Stories

Chief Obafemi Awolowo's running mate in Nigeria's 1979 presidential elections was Chief Philip
Umeadi, an Igbo man from Anambra State.

Umeadi was a senior lawyer and politician from the old Anambra State, and his pairing with Awolowo (a Yoruba leader) was seen as an attempt to foster Yoruba–Igbo political cooperation under the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN).

In an interview with Vanguard in 2010, Chief Ebenezer Babatope, who was 35 when he became the Director of Organisation of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), narrated how Awolowo settled for Umeadi. Read it below:

"Did you know that Papa Awolowo contacted some of his trusted friends in the North, requesting that one of them should come and be his running-mate but they turned him down? They rejected, especially those from the Hausa-Fulani clan.

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Ah Yoruba people !!!

 Author Unknown (received as 'Forwarded Many Times' via WhatsApp)

Ah! I remember the giddy days and fervor with which the Yoruba's campaigned for Buhari! How their girls would kiss his poster. How they did t-shirt aso-ebi's with Buhari and Osibanjo's picture where they were drinking sachet Milo tea! Ah those heady days! Days where the Yoruba's poured online warriors all over the internet to sell Buhari's candidacy, a man they dressed in borrowed garbs from the East and West but never in Fulani attire!

A man they insanely loved to the point that they hated anyone who said otherwise and called them "thieves" or beneficiaries of PDP "looters." Yoruba imams, pastors and babalawo's praised and prayed consistently for Buhari and earnestly yearned for his leadership because, to them, he would rule with hate for corruption, nepotism, ethnic chauvinism and he would be a President for all. They cursed all in opposition and labelled them with all sorts, such was the hate emanating from the very top of religion/religious leaders. Indeed for all! Yoruba intelligentsia all lined up and outdid themselves with beautiful prose in awe of Buhari!

You were hated in class, in the market, in church, in mosque, on the streets and in friendly gatherings if you dared speak against their messiah - Buhari! Such was the love that friends cut ties, religious institutions blacklisted anyone who did not toe the Buhari line. It was a complete wipeout of opposing voices of reason or call for closer scrutiny of the man they were selling! Even their revered poet body-shamed a fellow human being with the appellation - "shepopotamus." Such was the hate that it didn't matter the victim was a woman!

Igbo and the wisdom of the west

By Hyginus Azubike
~vanguard Nigeria. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2018.

WHEN the presidential flag-bearer of the People's Democratic Party, PDP, Alhaji Abubakar Atiku
nominated Mr. Peter Obi as his running mate, joy was universal. In the political history of Nigeria, no such nomination was greeted with the type of elation with which Nigerians received it. From North to South and East to West, the citizenry proclaimed Atiku's choice as the best Nigeria has witnessed preparatory to general elections.

Most Nigerians were excited by Obi's nomination due to his performance as Governor of Anambra State. They believe, rightly, that teaming up with Atiku, they will replicate the Anambra wonder.

As Nigeria's Vice-President when Obi was Governor of Anambra State, Atiku must have closely observed the younger man; and was satisfied with Obi's several positive contributions at meetings and saw in him what the rest of Nigerians did. Atiku himself said of Obi: "In 2016, my running mate, former Governor Peter Obi, gave an Independence Day speech at 'The Platform' event organised by Covenant Christian Centre in Lagos.

It was an unforgettable Independence Day event which, according to Google analytics, was the most searched item in Nigeria on that day. Why was that speech so attractive to Nigerians? It is because Mr. Obi gave a detailed breakdown of the reality of governance in Nigeria today, which is one of a wasteful squandering of the riches that should have gone into the development of our youth".


However, it was both shocking and perplexing that the opposition Obi got was from the South East, the very people who are supposed to be at home with the wonders that he did in Anambra State. In what looked like diplomacy's way of saying 'No' to a person, a group of persons said that they were against the process by which Atiku nominated Obi. They went as far as issuing statements and initiating moves intent on truncating the choice. What was instructive was that while they were on this, the Westerners appealed and even send a delegation to Atiku that they were fully ready for the post should the Easterners lose it due to their folly. This singular act should stick as food-for-thought for the people of the East.

Full Video: What Southern, Middle Belt Leaders told Saraki

~Oak Tv

The President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, John Nwodo, has suggested that too much powers in the hands of the executive is the reason for the disregard of the legislative arm of government by some public officials...

Watch the entire video:

 

A Handshake Across The Niger: The Igbo/Yoruba summit

Written by Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor
~Vanguard Nigeria. Tuesday, December 19, 2017.

Amajor review of Nigeria's geopolitical alignment is set to take place tomorrow as the Yoruba nation engages the Igbo nation in an embrace that could alter the country's political configuration in a way as never seen since the 1951 cross carpeting on the floor of the Western House of Assembly.

The meeting of Afenifere, the apex Yoruba socio-cultural body with Ohaneze, the apex socio-cultural Igbo body in Enugu has remarkably also drawn the participation of South-South political elements. Vanguard could not confirm as at Press time the participation of South-South leader, Chief Edwin Clark, but his leading associates, including Senator Bassey Ewa-Henshaw, a former chairman of the Niger-Delta Development Commission, NDDC, are expected at the event.

The seed for the summit was sown in the sacrificial death, 52 years ago, of Nigeria's first military head of state, Gen. Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi and the first military governor of the defunct Western Region, Brig. Adekunle Fajuyi.

Aguiyi-Ironsi was killed by soldiers mostly of Northern descent in Ibadan while visiting Fajuyi who paid the ultimate sacrifice for a guest when he opted to die with the visiting head of state.

However, the twine that tied Aguiyi-Ironsi and Fajuyi in death was subsequently displaced by animosity and rivalry that have for most of the country's existence, kept the two major nations as rivals always competing for an alliance with the North.

The prod towards reconstructing the bridge follows the increasing chasm in the polity especially since the advent of the Muhammadu Buhari regime which in the opinion of many stakeholders in the South, has alienated the region through its appointments, policies, and programmes.

Remarkably, one of President Buhari's leading apologists, Mr. Osita Okechukwu dismissed tomorrow's meeting as nothing new and perhaps as a distraction to Buhari's long-term goal of restructuring Nigeria's economic and political configurations.

He said that quite unlike the agitations of the summiteers in Enugu tomorrow, that Buhari has positioned political restructuring that is to be canvassed tomorrow as a priority for his second term.

"Mr. President has been much engaged in economic restructuring, and you can see that it is his goodwill that has unlocked several aids, grants, and loans to Nigeria to pursue projects that have been in the pipeline for several years now," Okechukwu, director-general of the Voice of Nigeria, VON and one of Buhari's longest-serving political associates from the South, deposed.

The framework for the summit, however, hopes to look beyond the political necessity for an alignment towards a cultural bond that drivers for the meeting say flows from similarities in culture between the Yoruba and the Igbo.

The hosts for the meeting are Pa Reuben Fasoranti, leader of Afenifere and Chief Nnia Nwodo, president-general of Ohaneze Ndigbo while the Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Nnaemeka Achebe, and the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, will act as Royal Fathers of the Day.

Ironsi, Fajuyi, symbol of national unity -Donald, Fajuyi's eldest child
By Charles Kumolu

DONALD Fajuyi, the first son of the late Military governor of defunct Western Region, Col. Adekunle Fajuyi, retd, has said the Handshake Across the Niger testifies that the duo of Fajuyi and the late Major-General Aguiyi Ironsi were symbols of national unity.

He also said the decision to celebrate them by the Igbo and Yoruba race, indicated that the significance of their deaths still resonates among Nigerians.

Fajuyi in a chat with Vanguard said he is expectant of a similar forum to be convened to also celebrate people of other tribes, who paid the supreme price for Nigeria's unity.

He said: “I want to thank God for making it possible because it is long overdue. Those who conceived the idea did well because it is needed. The late Ironside (Ironsi) was a great soldier and statesman, who was at the peak of his career. In those days, anyone who is a General is on top of his profession. He was a close friend of my father (Fajuyi). They were good friends. In those days, people were detribalised. There was no attachment to being Hausa, Igbo or Yoruba.

“I am very proud that my father was a party to those who ensured that their era was detribalised. I hope that with this, more bridges will be built and more handshakes exchanged across the Niger. The late Gen Hassan Katsina, retd, was also a great Nigerian. I hope that in time to come, Northern soldiers who also sacrificed their lives for the country would be celebrated as symbols of unity like my father and Ironsi. I hope to see handshakes across the Benue. I want to thank the organisers and Nigerians for recognising the sacrifice made by Ironsi and my father.”

It's an opportunity for southern people to re-invent themselves - Annkio Briggs
By Clifford Ndujihe

Restructuring Nigeria: We must restructure Nigeria now, Southern, Middle Belt leaders insist.

Topics:

• Hausa/Fulani's rejection of federalism is a demand for dismemberment
• Northern leaders list terms for restructuring, want Marshall Plan
• We must restructure Nigeria now, Southern, Middle Belt leaders insist
• THE DANGER OF RESTRUCTURING WITHOUT A REFERENDUM-APPROVED CONSTITUTION
• What restructuring means in practical terms by ABC Nwosu
• It's time to restructure Nigeria, says Babangida
• Beyond restructuring or secession: My fear for Nigeria
• 'Why north is uncomfortable with restructuring'
• How Nigeria was de-structured
• TRUE FEDERALISM THROUGH RESTRUCTURING IS THE ONLY OPTION FOR NIGERIA NOW
• Road to recovery: A case for restructuring Nigeria
• Restructuring and its benefits for all
• Restructuring: Let's go our ways in peace -Rufai Hanga
• IT IS TIME TO RESTRUCTURE NIGERIA
• RESTRUCTURING AND THE YORUBA AGENDA
• Restructuring: Who lopsided Nigeria in the first place?
• The clamour to restructure Nigeria
• Why Nigeria must be restructured
• Who's afraid of restructuring?
• The restructuring rhetoric
• Nigeria: Formed by negotiation, will forge by negotiation
• Osinbajo commits political apostasy

________________________________

Hausa/Fulani's rejection of federalism is a demand for dismemberment
Written by Rotimi Fasan
~vanguard Nigeria. Wednesday, December 20, 2017.

IT'Simportant to enter a caveat from the beginning in the light of the title of this week's piece. Nigeria's greatness lies in its remaining one country that is made up of diverse ethnicities. That is one lesson to be learned from the present arrangement of the world. In spite of the tension of division and tribalism that has been created in Donald Trump's America, the fact remains that America's greatness lies in its diversity. It's the reason for the existence of many of the regional economic and political groupings around the world. It's the logic behind the decision of those European countries that have elected to remain part of the European Union despite differences. It's the reason they are unhappy with Britain and would quickly want to close the chapter on its breaking rank and choosing to exit the EU. Nigeria's situation cannot be different from the rest of the world. We can't be thinking of breaking up while others are finding ways to resolve their differences in a bid to remain or come together. It's not too likely that any of the component parts that make up Nigeria will do better alone than they would collectively as one country.


This is the reason we must be clear-eyed about the way we relate with one another and be determined to correct the injustices of the past rather than insisting on keeping them. Yet, it would appear that some self-deceived Nigerians cannot separate their self-interest from the interest of the whole. They fail to see the wisdom in relating to others on the basis of fairness and equity. This is where we have found ourselves as a country with the debate over the skewed nature of our federalism and how to correct it. The Yoruba have a saying that there are boundaries even in farmlands jointly owned by a father and his children. No matter how close we are, we still need some personal space for self-actualization, some room within which to operate and be able to function as individuals. It does not mean we are no longer one or have become enemies by such recognition.

BIAFRAEXIT: 16 northern groups give Igbo October 1 to vacate region /With Biafra, Igbo'll remain in Nigeria, says Nnamdi Kanu

Topics:

• With Biafra, Igbo'll remain in Nigeria, says Nnamdi Kanu
• 16 northern groups give Igbo October 1 to vacate region
• Arewa Youths Write Osinbajo
• Presidency replies Arewa youths letter to Osinbajo on Biafra secession
• Igbo youths to Northern group: We're not afraid of war
• Open letter to Prof Ango Abdullahi
• OPEN LETTER TO THE AREWA YOUTHS.
• Igbo dare Arewa: We won't leave North …demand Ango Abdullahi's arrest
• The quit notice to Igbo in the North
• Southern leaders demand Arewa youths to withdraw ultimatum.
• Igbo quit notice: Pan Yoruba group calls for Oodua Republic
• PRESS RELEASE BY THE MIDDLE BELT YOUTH COUNCIL.
• The Igbos Have Paid For Their Sins- Emir Sanusi
• THE YOUTHS OF ODUDUWA REPUBLIC LAGOS DECLARATION – 10TH JUNE 2017

___________________________________

With Biafra, Igbo'll remain in Nigeria, says Nnamdi Kanu
Written by Ihuoma Chiedozie and Tony Okafor

~PUNCH Nigeria.  Tuesday, July 25, 2017.

Nnamdi Kanu

The leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, on Monday, said Igbo must not vacate the North, or any other part of the country, as a condition for the actualisation of the agitation for Biafra.

The IPOB leader spoke in an interview with some journalists in Enugu, where he received awards from a number of pan-Igbo groups, including the Igbo Women Assembly, the Eastern Consultative Assembly and the Igbo Students Union.

Reacting to the 'quit notice' issued to Igbo in the North by a coalition of Arewa youths, Kanu noted that secession from Nigeria did not imply that Igbo must leave the North, or other part of the country as suggested by the ultimatum issued by the northern youths.

He said, "You are aware that Scotland is seeking to leave the United Kingdom? Are you remotely implying that every person from Scotland, who lives in England, should now return to Scotland?

"Britain just left the EU. Are you now implying that every British citizen in the EU should come back to Britain in order to finalise that process of extraction of Britain from the EU?"

Kanu noted that what he described as "poor education" was responsible for the impression that Igbo must leave other parts of Nigeria in the event of the actualisation of Biafra.

EMIR SANUSI BARES HIS MIND ON HAUSA, IGBO AND YORUBA… THE PROBLEM OF NIGERIA

The former Central Bank Governor, and Emir of Kano His Royal Highness Muhammadu Sanusi the second , surprised guests present at the Muson Centre for the launching of the book of Sir Olaniwun Ajayi. 

Below is his unedited speech.

“Let me start by saying that I am Fulani (laughter). My grandfather was an Emir also fulani my uncle and guardian was also the immediate late Emir of Kano Alhaji Ado Bayero and therefore I represent all that has been talked about this afternoon. Sir Ajayi has written a book. And like all Nigerians of his generation, he has written in the language of his generation.

“My grandfather was a Northerner, I am a Nigerian. The problem with this country is that in 2009, we speak in the language of 1953. Sir Olaniwun can be forgiven for the way he spoke, but I cannot forgive people of my generation speaking in that language.

“Let us go into this issue because there are so many myths that are being bandied around. Before colonialism, there was nothing like Northern Nigeria, Before the Sokoto Jihad, there was nothing like the Sokoto caliphate. The man from Kano regard himself as bakane. The man from Zaria was bazazzage. The man from Katsina was bakatsine. The kingdoms were at war with each other. They were Hausas, they were Muslims, they were killing each other.

“The Yoruba were Ijebu, Owo, Ijesha, Akoko, Egba. When did they become one? When did the North become one? You have the Sokoto Caliphate that brought every person from Adamawa to Sokoto and said it is one kingdom. They now said it was a Muslim North.

“The Colonialists came, put that together and said it is now called the Northern Nigeria. Do you know what happened? Our grand fathers were able to transform to being Northerners. We have not been able to transform to being Nigerians. The fault is ours.

NIGERIA AWAKE: YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND YOUR HISTORY TO KNOW YOUR FUTURE.

Sent by Stephen Mbah

Stephen Mbah

Real Reasons Gov't dropped History from Nigerian school curriculum!!!
Never mind the official story - That Prof Babs Fafunwa, an educationist & one-time Education minister, dropped History to encourage students to take up science & tech courses. NO! Pure lies. How has Nigeria fared in science & tech decades after? What have we invented? How come American history is taught at all levels from kindergarten, yet it has not stopped America from being a tech giant? Wake up Naija!!

Fafunwa was only used as a willing tool for a political cover up. The REAL REASONS Nigerian History was dropped are:

1. They don't want you to know that Uthman Dan Fodio was a migrant who arrived & was welcomed as guest by the Hausa king of Gobir. He later attacked, killed and took over his host's kingdom!!! Just as Boko Haram & Maitatsine tried to do in modern Nigeria. So, BH, Fulani herdsmen & Fulani 
jihad are leafs from the same tree.

2. They don't want you to know that the British deliberately rigged the Nigerian political system, using the constitutions of 1922 to 1960 to sow the seeds of rivalry & disunity & stop Nigeria from being truly independent.
3. They don't want you to find out how the Northern people's congress willfully disbanded the Action Group by pitting Akintola against Awo to weaken the opposition during the First Republic.

4. They don't want you to find out that the North was the first region to want secession in 1953 following the first motion for self rule in the parliament. Northern reps opposed this motion and were booed & derided by the Lagos media. Northern leaders threatened to pull out of Nigeria!!!

5. They don't want you to find out that the 1964 elections were so rigged by the NPC government and when Awo protested he was tried & jailed for "treasonable felony"

Tackling unitary features of Nigeria’s federal system

Written by Ladipo Adamolekun
Professor Ladipo Adamolekun writes from Iju, Akure North, Ondo State.
~Vanguard Nigeria. Monday, May 22, 2017. 

Tafawa Belewa

BETWEEN January 1966 and September 1999, the military politicians who ruled Nigeria for close to 30 years - from Aguiyi Ironsi to Abdusalami Abubakar - introduced unitary features that were inspired by their military culture but were inconsistent with the features of the negotiated federal system introduced in 1954.

It was in reference to this negotiated federal system that Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa made the following observation in 1957: "The federal system is, under the present conditions, the only basis on which Nigeria can remain united" . The extreme example of the military leaders' unitary mind-set was Aguiyi Ironsi's infamous "Unification" Decree of 1966 that precipitated the civil war.

Centralism and uniformity were the two directing principles of the unitary features that the military rulers foisted on the country. Two crucial illustrations relate to (a) the concentration of powers at the centre (reflected in the skewed allocation of functions between the central and sub-national governments in the 1979 and 1999 Constitutions) and (b) a distorted revenue allocation formula that assigns 52.68% to the federal government, 26.72% to state governments and 20.6% to the local governments. At a more subtle level, the centralist and uniform orientations of the military were progressively transmitted to many federal parastals. My favourite example is how the National Universities Commission, NUC, metamorphosed from being a buffer between the government and the universities during the pre-military era into an over-powerful and control-oriented government parastatal with very extensive powers used to dictate uniform policies to all the universities.


Of the country's four presidents since the return to civilian rule in 1999 - Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Yar'Adua, Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari - only Yar'Adua understood the dangers posed by the unitary features of the country's federal system. And he formally committed to initiating the abrogation of anti-federal laws, that is, laws that underpin the unitary features. ("I have also directed that all laws be examined that go against the federal system so that they will be amended to be in conformity with the federal system of government" ) – interview with London's Financial Times reported in various national newspapers, May 20/08). Concretely, he cancelled the contracts for building health centres in all 774 local government areas that his predecessor had unilaterally awarded without consulting state governments. Unfortunately, his presidency was short-lived because of sickness and death and his commitment to remove the unitary features of the country's federal system was abandoned by his successor.

Whilst the two former military rulers who have become presidents under the civilian dispensation - Obasanjo and Buhari – are unsurprisingly comfortable with the oxymoronic unitary federalism they had imposed on the country during their first coming, Jonathan's failure to follow in the footsteps of Yar'Ardua is evidence that not all civilian presidents would be anti-unitary federalism.

New names emerge for HIV/AIDS, prostitutes in Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba

Written by Modupe Seriboh
Sunday, April 16, 2017

A team of Nigerian linguists and medical experts have adopted new names for HIV, AIDS and prostitutes in Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba in order to reduce the scourge of stigmatisation.

A statement on Saturday by Prof. Herbert Igboanusi of the University of Ibadan, said the adoption was to eliminate stigmatisation and discrimination of persons living with HIV and AIDS.

He said that the study adopted the following names as more appropriate for the HIV/AIDS.

HIV in Igbo is Ori Nchekwa Ahu meaning something that fights or weakens the body immunity while AIDS is Mminwu, a condition that causes emaciation.

According to the statement the Yorùbá, appropriate term for HIV is Kòkòrò Apa Sójà Ara (KASA) meaning sickness that which kills the body immunity while AIDS is ààrùn ìs?d?`l? àj?sára a sickness that completely weakens body immune system.

In Hausa, HIV is now Karya garkuwa meaning that which weakens the body immune system while Kanjamau a sickness capable of emaciating one’s body has been chosen for AIDS.

Igboanusi said that the study was a two-year research titled “A metalanguage for HIV, AIDS and Ebola discourses in Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba” sponsored by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund).

He called on speakers of the three languages to adhere to the use of these chosen terms in order to avoid confusing HIV with AIDS and consequently reduce their spread through behavioural change.

“It is the researchers’ belief that behavioural change is only possible when the people are familiar with the appropriate terminology for HIV and AIDS in their own languages.”

Similarly, the experts also adopted a new name for commercial sex worker in line with international practice.

“Since it is now more acceptable to refer to certain persons as “commercial sex workers” rather than “prostitutes”, we agreed that Nd? mkw??ghar? people who hang around for them in Igbo.

“Gbélé pawó, women who stay at home making money in Yoruba and Mata masu zaman kansu that is women who are living independently in Hausa.

THE IGBOS AND THE YORUBA 'COLD WAR'; A CASE FOR SOUTHERN UNITY.

By Charles Ogbu.
~FB 5th April, 2017

"Power is like a shadow. It resides exactly where men who are under its control think it resides"
The above is true with regards to the situation of Southerners in the Nigerian experiment.
We think the Fulanis are the ones that have been holding power and because we think and believe so, it actually look so. Because of this assumed knowledge, we hand over our destinies, our future and those of our children to a people who are not above 11 million, have little or no education and contribute little or nothing to the national pulse.

What if I told you that the real power rests in the South and with southerners but that the mutual distrust and foolish superiority contest between Igbos and Yorubas is the biggest obstacle to wielding this power? This senseless feud between these two Southern giants is also the biggest enabler and promoter of the Fulani Oligarchy.

The southern part of Nigeria owns the oil which feeds the entire country. Without the oil today, there is no economy and there is no Nigeria. The same south controls the commercial sector of the economy. The media is still owned and controlled by the South.
When a people owns the only thing that is feeding a whole country and still control commerce plus the media through which people's thoughts and opinions about anything can be shaped and can equally boast of the best human resources, what else does it take for such a people to wield power in such a country?
Unity!
The few Fulanis who have been running this country directly and indirectly since independence, what do they have?
Unity!
When the fulani Oligarchs want to achieve an aim, they effortlessly find a way to get every northern minorities such as Christians and middle Belts on their side even when they almost always end up discarding these same minorities and even killing them once the aim is achieved.

Now, ask yourself: how have the Fulani Oligarchs managed to turn the entire Nigeria into an 'Animal Farm' with them as the only "Napoleon' despite their low education and the fact that all the prerequisites/bargaining chips for acquiring and wielding power are domiciled in the South??

Igbo-Yoruba 'cold war'! This, right here, is the answer.

The day the two biggest southern ethnic groups --The Igbos and The Yorubas --decide to put a stop to their needless bickering and channel all their energy towards confronting their common enemy --the children of Danfodio--, that is the day the Fulani Oligarchs will understand that even though the king is the one with the crown, he is nothing without the kingmakers and the people.
The Fulanis are not runing Nigeria because they are smarter than others. Far from it. They are messing with the destinies of over 180million people because the two Southern big brothers with the wherewithal to end their murderous reign of impunity are busy chasing rats while their houses are afire.

I am no historian neither do I pride myself as a man of letters but I know for a fact that the biggest weapon of the fulanis is neither guns nor bombs. Their biggest weapon is their ability to identify their opponents' weak points or even create one where none exists, magnify it and use same to create division amongst them just so they would effortlessly implement their Divide And Rule tactics.
Sadly, they have succeded in using this weapon against Southern Nigeria's two biggest ethnic groups.
Throughout history, all the wars and woes visited on both the Igbos and the Yorubas all came from the fulanis. There is no record of ethnic clash between these two humane southern Nations.
No time has these two people ever disagreed violently.

Strangely, the mutual suspicion that exist between these two great peoples seem far greater than the one they harbour against their common oppressor, the Scions of Danfodio.

Buhari using state instrument for ethnic revenge -Odumakin, Afenifere's publicity secretary

~Punch Nigeria. Sunday, March 26, 2017.

National Publicity Secretary of the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin, in this interview with GBENRO ADEOYE, expresses surprise that the Federal Government and the police that have failed to arrest suspected Fulani herdsmen killing people across the country were able to quickly parade only Yoruba people as suspects following the clash between Yoruba and Hausa communities in Ile-Ife, Osun State

From your own position, what would you say led to that crisis in Ile-Ife, Osun State, where some people were said to have been killed?

Anybody that knows Yoruba people very well will know that we are very hospitable and accommodating. A Yoruba man is the only person that will vacate his bedroom for a visitor while he goes to sleep elsewhere. That shows you how hospitable we are. We are accommodating; we don't engage in fights as first resort, we only fight when we don't have a choice. We would rather take the option of resolving a matter through mediation when that option is available. That has made those who don't understand us to think that we are cowards and that they can trample on us like grass. For the Ile-Ife crisis, it was caused as a result of a dispute between a Yoruba woman and a Hausa woman. The former said the Hausa woman always littered her shop and then took her up on the matter. In the process, the Hausa woman's husband slapped the Yoruba woman and she slapped him back. The Yoruba woman was beaten and of course, she told her husband what happened and he went to find out why his wife was assaulted. A fracas occurred. That happened on March 7, 2017. Then the Ife traditional authorities went to report the matter to the police and asked them to look into the matter and settle it. I think the police did not respond as they should. 

The following morning, the Hausa/Fulani people in Ile-Ife went out on a revenge mission. The first Yoruba boy that was killed by the Hausa people was put in a wheelbarrow. The next casualty in the crisis was also a Yoruba boy, who was hit by a stray bullet from the police Special Anti-Robbery Squad division. Their vehicle was marked 109. But the one that provoked the outrage was the killing of the third Yoruba boy. He was a vulcaniser and his head was said to have been severed and put on a pole which was paraded round the town. That was what incensed the Yoruba people and a free for all started between the two groups. In the process, the death of the 46 people that the police said were killed occurred. At this stage, we cannot determine the identities of the 46 people as many of them were burnt beyond recognition. No DNA has been conducted and until that is done, nobody can say that the Hausa community had a higher casualty figure or not. But for the first three deaths that led to the crisis, two were caused by the Hausa/Fulani people and one was caused by the police. And the Yoruba were never the aggressors in this fight; the Hausa/Fulani were the aggressors.

You and some others have said that a Yoruba vulcaniser was beheaded and the severed head was paraded on a pole. How come this is different from the account of the police that said the problem started after one Kuburat Eluwole slapped a Hausa man during an argument? Which do we believe?

Well, the account given by the police is exactly the account of the Hausa/Fulani in this conflict. And it is understandable. The leadership of the Nigeria Police today is Hausa/Fulani. And this is what we have been saying that this government cannot concentrate all the appointments of the Nigerian security team in one section of the country. We have the Inspector General of Police from the North, the Director-General of the Department of State Services from the North, Minister of interior from the North, and so on. This is the danger we pointed out when all these appointments were being made.