Olayomi Koiki and Morakinyo Akinosun
The Yoruba Self-Determination Movement (YSDM) has responded to the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, over his statement on establishing Sharia courts in southwest Nigeria.
The Deputy National Legal Adviser of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Imam Haroun Muhammad Eze, had issued a press release – dated January 29, 2025, which advocated for the establishment of Sharia Arbitration Panels in Ekiti, Oyo, and other parts of the South-West.
The YSDM rejected the Sultan’s statement, adding that it was made in a manner that implies the Yoruba people are subordinate to him.
“We have read your statement that was sent to the public through the Deputy National Adviser of the Nigeria Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs, Imam Haroun Eze… Your representative chose to make your statement to the Yoruba people as if you are an overlord of the Yoruba people,” the YSDM said in a statement.
The organisation rejected the notion that the Sultan is the leader of Muslims in Yorubaland, stating that most Yoruba Muslims do not recognize him as their leader.
“There is no provision in the tenets of Islam that lays the duty on our Yoruba Muslim people to accept you as leader of Islam while we Yoruba are still part of Nigeria,” YSDM declared.
The body also criticized the Fulani people for their actions in Yorubaland, including killings, destruction of property, and kidnappings, and accused the Sultan of failing to speak out against these atrocities.
“In the past ten years, your Fulani people have killed countless thousands of Yoruba Muslims in all parts of Yorubaland, have destroyed the farms, villages and other assets of Yoruba Muslim farmers, have raped and killed countless Yoruba Muslim women, and have kidnapped, and extorted millions of Naira as ransom for, countless kidnapped Yoruba Muslim men, women and children.”
The YSDM noted that the Fulani people’s attempt to impose Sharia law on Yorubaland will never succeed, citing the Yoruba people’s strong culture of family, lineage, and kinship relations.
“We Yoruba are a people who honor family, lineage and kinship relations as very important to a normal, stable and prosperous society… We do not accept the view that family, lineage and kinship relationships should be subdued to religion.”
The YSDM advised the Fulani people to abandon their “born-to-rule” mentality and instead seek to coexist with other nations as equals.
“We suggest to you in love that this is what you should be paying your attention to rather than trying to insult other people by trying to force Islamic fundamentalism and Sharia Law on them?”
“We Yoruba wish you well. We Yoruba wish you Fulani well – even though we have taken our decision to separate our Yoruba nation from a Nigeria that has been pulverized in sickening detail by lawlessness, anarchy, economic mismanagement, irresistible power of public corruption, economic collapse, Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism, interethnic animosities and violence, and wrenching, almost all-pervading, poverty.”
The Yoruba Nation Youths, both at home and the diaspora, also issued a strong warning to the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, against pushing for the establishment of Sharia courts in South-West region of Nigeria.
There have been series of opposition from groups against the implementation of Sharia law in the southwestern region of Nigeria.
In January, a Yoruba group held a street awareness in the ancient town of Oyo and a press conference , rejecting the introduction of Sharia in the region. Another round of awareness and press conference was held in Ekiti State last Tuesday.
The Ewi of Ado Ekiti, Oba Adeyemo Adejugbe, last weekend, ordered the dissolution of the Sharia panel set up at the Central Mosque in Ado Ekiti.
The Ekiti State government had said the existing legal structure in the state doesn’t recognise the Sharia Court or Sharia Arbitration Panel, with the State Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General, Dayo Apata, (SAN) calling for caution after reports stipulating the first public sitting of a Shari’ah Panel in the state which resolved two marriage disputes.
The Ogun State Government also warned against any attempt to establish a Sharia Court in the southwestern state.
The Yoruba Nation Religious Council (YONAREC), a coalition of the Yorùbá Nation Christian Association (YORNCA), Muslim Association of Yorùbá Nation (MAYON), and Imo Oodaiye Orile Ede Yorùbá (IMỌ OODÁIYÉ/IṢẸṢẸ), also rejected the Islamic law.
Traditional leaders in the southwestern region of the country have also warned that any attempt to initiate Sharia law in the region will cause anarchy, division, and instability.
The Yoruba Nation Youths, both at home and the diaspora, also issued a strong warning to the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, against pushing for the establishment of Sharia courts in South-West region of Nigeria.
The United Kingdom (UK) and Europe branch of Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, otherwise known as UK Afenifere strongly rejected the clamour by some Muslims for the establishment of Sharia law in the South-West region.
The group cautioned those clamouring for the establishment of Sharia law in the South-West to immediately desist from such acts to avoid disunity amongst the Yoruba people.
The group said Yoruba people are too intelligent and enlightened to be gaslighted along religious divides.
The group added that the predominantly Yoruba South-West is distinct from the Northern region where Muslims are in the majority.
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