However, the leader of the factional group Mrs Modupe Onitiri-Abiola released a video where she proclaimed in Yoruba language independence for the Southwestern part of Nigeria, saying, “Democratic Republic of The Yoruba is a sovereign nation.”
Who is Modupe Onitiri-Abiola?
Here are the 10 things we know about the self-proclaimed secessionist group “OminiraYoruba”, led by the widow of MKO Abiola, who just proclaimed herself the President of Democratic Republic of The Yoruba.
1) She is from an influential family in Lagos, The Onitiris. She is a core Lagosian.
2) Modupe Onitiri is one of the widows of the late politician, business mogul, and the winner of the 1993 presidential election Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola, popularly called MKO.
3) She was a former governorship candidate in Lagos State in the 2015 elections under Accord Party, when she boastfully said she would succeed the governor of the state at the time Babatunde Fashola.
4) She is a writer and author of the book titled, “Farewell to Poverty: Let There Be Light in Africa”, which she published in 2007.
5) Modupe Onitiri-Abiola has had issues with the main Yoruba Nation Group led by Professor Banji Akintoye. Akintoye resigned as the leader of the secessionist group on December 22, 2022. So, there are factions within the Yoruba Nation group.
6) Modupe was actively involved as a politician and activist before and during the arrest of her MKO Abiola in 1993.
7) In an interview in 2013, she made it public that the military government of Nigeria intentionally killed her husband Chief MKO Abiola, because he (MKO) was not ready to ‘surrender’ her victory to the military. She told ModernGhana reporter that, “I knew before he was assassinated that he was going to be killed.”
8) She has been based in the United States for more than 30 years.
9) Apart from politics, she is a business broker and real estate consultant in the U.S.
10) Modupe has a BSc with honors in International Management from the Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut, USA.
The secessionist woman is blessed with four children: Deen, Azizzah, Moshoodat, and Saheed.
Like Simeon Ekpa, who proclaimed himself as the Prime Minister of the defunct Biafra Republic while in faraway Finland, Mrs Modupe Onitiri-Abiola is in the U.S., proclaiming herself as the President of a geopolitical zone in Nigeria.
What Nigerian Law Says About Secession
Under the Nigerian Constitution, no part of Nigeria has the power to form its own independent government or secede from the country. To succinctly put it, the word ‘secede’ does not appear in the Constitution.
Like Ekpa, Nigeria’s security will most likely declare her wanted for insurrection, mutiny, coup, sedition, and other offences that may land her in jail.