Yoruba Group Blames Ibadan Stampede, Others On Nigeria’s ‘Abject Poverty’

IBADAN, NIGERIA – A Pan-Yoruba group, the Yoruba Self-Determination Group (YSDG), has attributed the recent stampede in Ibadan, which claimed the lives of over 35 children, and similar incidents across Nigeria, to widespread poverty.

In a statement released by Professor Banji Akintoye, the group offered condolences to the families of the victims, including those of the 35 children in Ibadan, 10 in Okija, and several adults in Abuja.

Professor Akintoye described the stampedes as a direct consequence of the desperate struggle for basic necessities in a nation crippled by poverty.

He argued that the sheer number of people vying for even small offerings of food highlights the severity of the situation.

He stated that such incidents are becoming increasingly common across the country.

“Such stampedes are occurring almost daily now in the lives of Nigeria’s impoverished citizens,” the statement read.

The YSDG sharply criticized the Nigerian elite, accusing them of failing to grasp the depth of the crisis due to their own privileged positions.

The group asserted that the tragedies underscored the urgent need for a fundamental shift in governance.

“These kinds of tragedy underscore the need for deeper, more responsive, more humane, more statesmanlike, and final solution to the manifest fall of Nigeria,” the statement emphasized.

Professor Akinttoye paint a grim picture of Nigeria, describing it as an “ultra-barbaric country” where systems have failed.

He predicted the inevitable breakup of the nation, warning that continued resistance to dissolution by political leaders, motivated by corruption and fear of change, could lead to a bloody implosion.

“Nigeria has sunk to the lowest levels of degradation in the world… Nigeria will break up, whether peacefully or through a bloody implosion,” Akintoye stated.

He argued that a peaceful dissolution would be a blessing, contrasting it with the potential for catastrophic violence if the status quo persists.

He suggested that the current political leadership faces a choice between earning “eternal praise and honour” or “eternal dishonor and worldwide curses” depending on their response to the crisis.