Yorùbá sons and daughters in their thousands assembled in Ibadan at the weekend to commemorate this year’s Yorùbá National Day which marked the end of Kiriji War in 1886.
The Yorùbá National Day 2023, themed: “Peace and Unity in Yorùbáland,” was held at the Ile-Ibadan, Oke-Aremo, Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
Addressing newsmen at the event, the convener and leader of Idande Yorùbá socio-cultura group, Architect Opeoluwa Akinola, said that the vision and objectives of every Pan-Yorùbá group, though in different dimensions and approaches, was to bring unity, not disaffection among the race.
Architect Akinola urged people not to be concerned about skirmishes among some Yorùbá, but rather concentrate on unity of the race and how to actualise the dream of Yorùbá Nation.
Also speaking, the Commandant of Èkìtì branch of the group, Emmanuel Apata, was optimistic that coming together of Yorùbá would bring progress that could be extended to Nigeria at large.
However, a Yorùbá elder, Moshod Tomori, who graced the event, emphasised that Yorùbá people needed to remove the prejudice created by early educationists and missionaries to actualize the deserved unity.
Contributing, an artist, Tunde Adelade, urged Yoruba people to learn to work together in resonance with other ethnic groups for the progress and co-existence of the country.
September 23 of every year has been set aside as Yorùbá National Day in commemoration of the end of Kiriji War in 1886, a 16-year-long civil war between sub-ethnic kingdoms of Yorùbá race.
