Nobel laureate Prof Wole Soyinka has said the formation of a Yoruba nation will not resolve the challenges facing the region.
He said he preferred a united Nigeria, but under certain “rigorous conditions”.
Describing the country as a “basket case”, he said the political arrangement was not working.
In an interview with BBC Pidgin, Soyinka condemned the raid of the home of Yoruba activist, Sunday Igboho.
On secession calls, he said: “I don’t like the sound of a Yoruba nation any more than I like the sound of a Tiv nation or an Igbo nation.
“The reason is this: there are certain pejorative overtones, chauvinistic overtones attached to it. That’s not the issue.
“When you talk about a Yoruba nation, are we talking about the creation of a nation within Nigeria alone or across colonial borders into Cotonou, Benin Republic, where Yoruba exists, moving on to Togo and even Ivory Coast?
“So, when we talk about Yoruba nation, I have to know exactly what you mean. Do we even talk about the Yoruba in the Diaspora?
“So, it’s a question which is not for me to answer at this particular moment.”
