The Yoruba of yore created for themselves ‘Orile Ede Yoruba’ meaning Land Exclusive to the Yoruba-speaking peoples, and made Yorubaland into an independent self-governing country. On 1 January 1914, in the act of Amalgamation, Britain without consent incorporated the independent Yoruba country into Nigeria, and in 1960 in the act of Independence, Britain bequeathed Yorubaland to Nigeria.
Yorubaland is a birthright. No generation of Yoruba has the authority or right to abandon or give up the land. Members of the YPUK, as heirs to the Yoruba legacy, have the duty and the responsibility to reclaim Yorubaland back from Nigeria, and make Yorubaland independent again. Several compelling features justify the status of Yorubaland as a country in its own right under international law.
One, Yorubaland is a physical geographical space in West Africa. It is a piece of land with its own distinctive, undisputed boundaries or frontiers enclosed by the natural barriers of the River Niger to the north and east, and the Atlantic Ocean to the south. The Benin Republic formed the western boundary. The Yoruba people have occupied this geographical entity on their own as owners continuously, and uninterrupted by others since time began.
Two, the Yoruba are a distinct race of people, now numbering over 50 million in their Homeland, very clearly distinguishable from their neighbours, near or far. The Yoruba have one ancestral origin in Ile Ife, the spiritual centre point. Consequently, the Yoruba are monoethnic with one culture, one tradition, and one language, a language that originated from nobody other than the Yoruba. The Yoruba have one religion based on the Orisa deities. Indeed, the Orisa religion is today widely practiced in the Americas to where some Yoruba were transported as slaves centuries ago. The Yoruba have their own distinctive textiles and dress code. The Yoruba communicate with taking drums; the Yoruba enslaved in Brazil, Cuba and the Caribbean used them to secretly communicate with one another.
Three, the Yoruba ’wrote’ for themselves the Odu Ifa, a compendium of spiritual and social etiquettes similar in its intent to the Jewish Bible and the Arabian Quran. The Babalawo is the Ifa expert or scholar who provided access to the Odu. The Odu comprised of 256 ‘chapters’, contents of which were impossible to commit to memory and transmit unadulterated in a society that did not use writing. Therefore, the Babalawo invented the tablet devices of Opon and Opele to help him circumvent the inadequacy of the human brain. The Babalawo accessed the contents of each of the 256 Odu ‘chapters’ by using the Ikin, a random number generator, and the Ibo passkeys. ‘Divination’ is a misnomer, Ifa was purely about ancient ancestral knowledge.
Four, the Yoruba are obsessive urban dwellers. To protect this way of existence, the Yoruba developed a sophisticated democratic system of government, and an unwritten constitution, which may be called the ‘Constitutional Oba’. That constitution has been unscathed by 46 years of British colonial rule and 65 years of Nigeria overlordship. According to the ‘Constitutional Oba’, each Yoruba urban was self-governing with the Oba at the head of a governing council of nobilities or Igbimo. ‘Kingdom’ is a misnomer, the Oba is not a king in the European sense. The Oba is selected not inherited. The Yorubaland was a Cooperative of Urbans with the Alaafin of Oyo as titular head, just like Queen Victoria was titular head of Great Britain.
Five, the Yoruba created a set of laws that were separate and distinct from the ‘Constitutional Oba’. Although the Yoruba of yore did not write, they did the next best thing which was to embed and codify their laws into everyday words. The embedded word was as accurate as the written word. The British called the Yoruba Law ‘customary’ law, and today, it is included in the laws of Nigeria. The Yoruba Law covers the same depth of law as British law, that is to say, it included public law, land law, family law, contract law, criminal law, and tort law. And, it is possible to cross-reference the Yoruba law with modern ‘English’ caselaw.
Six, the Yoruba were capable of entering into international relations. This was demonstrated by the treaty of friendship and trade concluded on 23 July 1888, between Queen Victoria, Head of State of Great Britain, and Alaafin Adeyemi, Head of Yorubaland. The 1888 Britain-Yorubaland Treaty was a treaty in which Britain regarded, and treated, Yorubaland as an equal. Indeed, the treaty was so important to Britain that the British government requested for it, published it in London, and ratified it on 16 June 1890. The Alaafin ratified the treaty on the same date by accepting a treaty-related payment from the British government.
Seven, 16 June 1890, the date of ratification of the 1888 Britain-Yorubaland Treaty, was the critical date, the date on which Yorubaland was confirmed a country under international law. On that critical date, the recognition of Yorubaland as a country became irreversible in law. Britain pled this same critical date law in the Minquiers and Echros case: ‘…the subsequent practice of parties to a treaty, in relation to it, cannot affect the meaning of the treaty…events occurring after the critical date…cannot operate to alter the position as it stood at that date’. The status of Yorubaland as a State under international law solidified on 16 June 1890. Actions taken by the parties to the 1888 Britain-Yorubaland Treaty after that date are not relevant to the rights involved.
The Queen and the Alaafin intended the 1888 Britain-Yorubaland Treaty to be permanent, not provisional or temporary. They therefore excluded from it an escape clause or provisions for termination or for withdrawal so that passage of time was irrelevant, and the treaty was always operational. It is clear from the 1888 Britain-Yorubaland Treaty that those who created Yorubaland did not wish for their descendants to give up the Homeland that they had created for them. Heirs to the Yoruba legacy have an obligation and right to protect their own birthright. Fortunately, they can do this using the courts to enforce implementation of the 1888 Britain-Yorubaland Treaty, the document that confirmed Yorubaland as a country.
Baasegun (Dr) Olusola Oni
Leader, The Yoruba Party in the UK