The Yoruba Self-Determination Movement (YSDM) has issued a strong warning against the planned hosting of an Igbo cultural and intellectual festival in Lagos this October, describing it as provocative and an attempt to lay subtle claims to the cultural and social assets of Yorubaland.
The event, which is expected to honour the “100 Greatest Igbo Personalities of All Time,” will feature Igbo masquerades—an element the group recalled had previously sparked tension in Lagos.
According to the organizers, the event is billed to take place at the prestigious Villa Angellia Hotels, Ikoyi, Lagos State, on October 17 and 18, 2025, drawing together the brightest stars of Igbo heritage from across Nigeria and the global diaspora.
Their position was made known at world press conference in Ibadan on Friday, through a speech read by Arc. Opeoluwa G. Akinola, Deputy Leader (Homeland),
In addition to rejecting the festival, the group also demanded the urgent renaming of major streets and landmarks in Lagos, arguing that many were imposed during past coalition governments to reflect Northern and Igbo interests.
YSDM particularly criticized naming the street nearest to the Atlantic Ocean after Sir Ahmadu Bello, the former Premier of the Northern Region, insisting that it should instead honour Yoruba icons such as Oduduwa Adimula, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Brigadier Benjamin Adekunle, Moremi, Olokun, or Colonel Shittu Alao. The group also questioned why the Murtala Mohammed International Airport should not be renamed after a distinguished Yoruba military officer.
YSDM further accused successive administrations of distorting Yoruba history by renaming Lagos streets after prominent Igbo leaders such as Nnamdi Azikiwe, Ozumba Mbadiwe, and Eni Njoku, while also balkanizing the Western Region through the creation of the Midwest and the carving out of Lagos as a Federal Capital Territory. The group, which alleged that President Bola Tinubu had weakened the Yoruba nation struggle by aligning with Northern interests for political ambition, called for legislation to reaffirm Lagos as part of Yorubaland to prevent what it described as “revisionist attempts.”
