By Ademola Adekusibe
23 January, 2026
A coalition linked to Nnamdi Kanu and prominent Yoruba, Igbo, Middle Belt and other ethnic minority groups has called for the complete dissolution of Nigeria, following a meeting held in the United States on Wednesday.
The position, jointly presented by groups associated with the Odùduwà (Yoruba) and Biafra (Igbo) movements alongside Middle Belt and other Nigerian ethnic minorities, was released under the banner of the Coalition for De-Amalgamation and Security (CODES). The coalition announced its stance at what it described as its inaugural international press conference.
According to the statement circulated by Irohinoodua, CODES is described as an alliance of indigenous civil forces and ethnic nationalities seeking the peaceful de-amalgamation of Nigeria as a means of ending what it called persistent violence, insecurity and a worsening humanitarian crisis across the country.
The coalition said it is championed by the two largest southern nationalities, the Odùduwà nation in the West and the Biafran nation in the East, whom it said have suffered systemic corruption, terrorism, displacement and political exclusion under Nigeria’s present structure.
The statement alleged that Nigeria no longer operates on truth, justice or popular consent, but rather on what it described as systemic denial and institutionalized falsehood. It accused the state of misrepresenting realities on the ground to both citizens and the international community, while allegedly concealing mass atrocities, unchecked terrorism and a growing humanitarian emergency. According to the coalition, this culture of deception has displaced accountability and stripped the Nigerian state of moral legitimacy and the capacity to protect lives.
CODES therefore announced what it termed a historic alliance between the Odùduwà (Yoruba) and Biafran (Igbo) nations for the peaceful de-amalgamation of Nigeria. It stated that the De-Amalgamation Congress is open to all indigenous nations within Nigeria and emphasized that the process it seeks is non-violent, lawful and grounded in internationally recognized principles of self-determination.
The coalition stressed that its position was not driven by extremism but by exhaustion with insecurity, deception and state failure. It said its demand for self-determination is peaceful, legitimate and rooted in international law, citing the United Nations Charter, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
According to the statement, the Yoruba-Igbo partnership represents a conscious choice to replace coercion with consent and instability with sustainable peace. The coalition argued that continued insecurity, terrorism and what it described as attempts to impose sharia nationwide make peaceful separation the only viable guarantee of security, justice and survival for affected populations.
On the origins of Nigeria’s crisis, the coalition traced current instability to colonial amalgamation and indirect rule structures inherited from British administration, which it said were later entrenched by post-colonial centralization. It alleged that state resources have been systematically looted through corruption aligned with caliphate-linked interests, leading to the concentration of power in the North and the marginalization of Nigeria’s plural identities. The 1914 amalgamation, it argued, was imposed without consent and was a colonial administrative convenience rather than a social contract.
The statement further asserted that the roots of the crisis cannot be separated from the 19th-century Sokoto Jihad led by Usman dan Fodio, which it described as a campaign that created a caliphate state built through force and conquest. It claimed that contemporary Fulani terrorism represents a continuation of this historical legacy, marked by territorial expansion, displacement, subjugation, religious taxation, slavery and the institutionalization of sharia law.
CODES alleged that under the banner of “Arewa,” caliphate structures have maintained political dominance in Northern Nigeria, subverting indigenous identities and contributing to poverty, ecological decline, illiteracy and chronic insecurity. It said this has made the region a focal point for terrorism and mass displacement, with Middle Belt communities particularly affected.
The coalition stated that communities in the Middle Belt, including Tiv, Idoma, Berom, Jukun, Eggon, Bachama and others, have endured long-term violence, land dispossession, cultural suppression and political marginalization. It alleged persistent village raids, mass killings, church burnings, farm destruction, rape and displacement, often amid claims of state inaction or bias. In this context, it argued that self-determination has become the only credible path to peace, security and local accountability.
Addressing Yoruba history, the coalition cited the fall of Ilorin and the Afonja episode as a major rupture in Yoruba sovereignty. It said the absorption of Ilorin into the Sokoto Caliphate marked the first permanent loss of Yoruba territory to an external caliphate system, a development later reinforced by British colonial rule and post-colonial governance. It argued that events such as the annulment of the June 12, 1993 election reinforced perceptions of systematic political exclusion.
On the Igbo experience, the statement described colonial rule, the 1966 pogroms and the Nigerian Civil War as a continuum of insecurity and exclusion. It said the Biafran declaration was a survival response to mass killings, and alleged that the war involved scorched-earth tactics and starvation that killed millions. According to the coalition, post-war policies entrenched economic and political marginalization of the South-East, with ongoing militarization and repression of dissent.
The coalition accused British colonial administration of engineering structural imbalance by preserving caliphate institutions, ruling the North through Fulani emirs and weakening southern governance systems, an imbalance it said has persisted since independence.
On contemporary insecurity, CODES cited the activities of Fulani herdsmen groups, Boko Haram, ISWAP and other armed networks. It alleged widespread impunity, destruction of villages and farmlands, displacement of communities and failure to prosecute perpetrators. The statement further accused state-run rehabilitation programs, including Operation Safe Corridor, of releasing former militants without justice for victims or consent of affected communities.
The coalition claimed that peaceful self-determination advocates such as Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and Chief Sunday Igboho have faced persecution, while violent actors allegedly operate freely. It cited Kanu’s continued detention despite court orders and Igboho’s status as a wanted person, alleging selective justice and political repression.
The statement also accused the Nigerian government of prioritizing international image management through costly lobbying efforts abroad while displaced persons remain in underfunded camps without adequate care or security. It described this as a moral contradiction and governance failure.
CODES warned that if Islamic terrorist groups gain full control of Nigeria’s territory, the resulting atrocities and humanitarian catastrophe could exceed those witnessed under ISIS in the Middle East, with global consequences due to Nigeria’s large population.
The coalition criticized Nigerian media for downplaying or mischaracterizing violence, alleging that terrorism is often reframed as communal clashes or farmer-herder disputes, thereby shielding perpetrators and enabling impunity.
According to the coalition, Nigeria is approaching the brink of a catastrophic civil war driven by insecurity, perceived forced Islamization and state collapse. It argued that peaceful self-determination offers the only non-violent exit, capable of restoring consent, reducing grievances and preventing mass bloodshed.
CODES called for international recognition of the right to self-determination, referencing precedents in countries such as Canada and the United Kingdom, and argued that Nigeria’s refusal to allow peaceful referendums places it outside democratic norms.
The coalition formally demanded the recognition of Biafra and Odùduwà as sovereign nations, the immediate release of Nnamdi Kanu and other detainees held for self-determination advocacy, an end to the pursuit of Sunday Igboho, international investigations into alleged mass killings and state complicity, UN-recognized referendums for interested indigenous nations, protection for vulnerable Christian and indigenous communities, and the immediate end to sharia law alongside the disarmament of armed groups.
It concluded that Yoruba and Biafra nations possess the population size, resources, institutional capacity and global diaspora strength to function as viable sovereign states. The coalition maintained that its alliance is not a declaration of war but a peaceful call for truth, dignity and lawful self-determination, arguing that forced unity, repression and silence have failed.
According to the statement, the only solution capable of guaranteeing lasting security is the complete dissolution of Nigeria into independent ethnic nations, a process it said would prevent terrorist penetration of defined borders and allow organized territorial defense.
