No going back on one million man protest at UN – Yoruba Nation, IPOB, others insist

The Nigerian Indigenous Nationalities Alliance for Self-Determination (NINAS) has insisted on going ahead with the one million-man march in front of the United Nations Headquarters in New York, United States.

NINAS is the umbrella body of leading regional self-determination groups in the South and Middle Belt of Nigeria.

Banji Akintoye, renowned historian and professor, is representing the SouthWest and Yorubaland; the Lower Niger Congress under the leadership of Tony Nnadi is representing the South-South, SouthEast and MiddleBelt Renaissance Movement under the leadership of Professor Yusufu Turaki is representing the Middle Belt.

The groups had consistently complained about the state of the country and leadership style of incumbent President, Muhmmadu Buhari.

It was learnt that Nigerians in the diaspora from the South East, South South, South West and Middle Belt clans, living in the United States of America, are being mobilised to stand up for their Indigenous Nationalities.

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Akintoye stated this in an interview over the weekend, monitored by BusinessDay. He noted that there was a need to show the world the plight of Nigerians and the leadership failure by the incumbent administration.

According to him, “We want to show the world our plight so that we can see solutions. We can’t keep quiet. The mega rallies held in South West were a success, and it is not enough, but we need the world to understand our current plight.

“The Federal Government has tried to clamp down on our rallies, and some of the peaceful protesters were attacked, and some were arrested. We decided that the rally that we’ve held at home is not enough; we need to go international.

“This rally is coming at a time the UN General Assembly is going to be meeting in New York. This rally will help in solidifying self-determination agitation” he said.

According to him, “The rally is going to be an inclusive one. We’ve done the necessary things. We’ve formed alliance, NINAS, and we’ve agreed on the rally. We’ll have Yorubas, Igbos, Middle Belt, and other regions will be at the rally.”