Rotimi Akeredolu, governor of Ondo, says the state will not secede from Nigeria, adding that the advocates of Oduduwa Republic are politicians who lost out on power.
Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho, a self-acclaimed Yoruba activist, had last week declared Yoruba as a separate nation and demanded the secession of the south-west states from Nigeria.
Commenting on Monday, Akeredolu said Ondo people have chosen to stay in Nigeria.
The governor cautioned those behind the Oduduwa Republic agenda, urging them to allow all stakeholders to discuss before imposing their thoughts on the Yoruba people.
He said no part of Ondo state will permit any gathering or agitation which may suggest, however remotely, that the people are in support of what he termed “unthinking rabble-rousing”.
The governor said the state will not subscribe to banditry and recklessness in putting forth its demands.
He said the right of citizens to discuss, agitate and fight to right perceived wrongs must be done within known and acceptable parameters.
Akeredolu said: “We will not be led to assured annihilation by anyone or a group of people, still smarting from the electoral defeats of recent times and presumed exclusion from the process of decision-making.
“Our people are knowledgeable enough to determine their interest at any point. If and when they consider self-determination as an option, they will not depend on external promptings to act. That is why we are different. That is why we are who we are.”
