“They Are All Quiet Now Because One of Their Own Is in Aso Rock,” Says Ikhide Ikheloa on Yoruba Intellectuals’ Shift from Nationalism

Ikhide Ikheloa, the US-based Nigerian writer and literary critic, has accused south-west intellectuals of abandoning nationalist ideals to prioritize Yoruba interests once a Yoruba leader assumed Nigeria’s presidency. Speaking in an interview with Rudolf Okonkwo on 90MinutesAfrica, Ikheloa said the pro-democracy rhetoric of figures like Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka was misleading during the June 12 struggle, presenting it as a pan-Nigerian cause while quietly advancing ethnic agendas.

“I came across all of these intellectuals… They were talking about what just happened in 1993. However, it now turns out that they were looking out for themselves and the Yoruba nation,” he said. “That would have been fine if not that they were couching it as a struggle for the whole of Nigeria. Many of us were naive back then to believe that it was a national struggle.”

Ikheloa, who was actively involved in the pro-democracy movement in the early 1990s, recalled a meeting with the late human rights activist Beko Ransome-Kuti, where a map dividing Nigeria into regions was presented. He said the experience made him question the commitment of some Yoruba intellectuals to a united Nigeria.

“From what is happening today, it is clear that these Yoruba intellectuals never believed in one Nigeria. They are all quiet now because one of their own is in Aso Rock. But we recall that when they were not in power, the shout was Yoruba Ronu,” he said.

On the country’s economic challenges, Ikheloa criticized the pervasive “billing” culture, describing it as a constant financial burden. “Over 99 percent of my expenses in Nigeria were to settle ‘billing’ from people. The millions of naira that I spent were on this black tax. Everybody wants to collect, not just once but multiple times,” he added.