Asks leaders
to tackle region’s problems
• Govs flay
pro-Biafra agitation, restructuring
• Yoruba
group seeks creation of Oduduwa Republic
The Sultan
of Sokoto, Alhaji Saad Abubakar, yesterday condemned what he considered as the
lazy attitude of some northern governors to governance.
The sultan
said the governors must show practical commitment to discharging their duties
by avoiding procrastination and implementing decisions capable of turning
around the poor situation of the north.
Coming from
the sultan, it is an indication that the northern establishment is set for
self-evaluation. It is no longer prepared to pamper the issue of poor
development in the north as the sultan’s call on the region’s political
leadership to brace to the challenges of development is unmistakeable.
At a joint
meeting of the Northern Governors’ Forum and traditional rulers at Sir Kashim
Ibrahim House in Kaduna yesterday, the sultan said the northern elite must
throw away their lazy attitude.
According to Guardian, He urged
traditional and religious leaders to guard their utterances and avoid inciting
words which could cause chaos, saying that negative stories could be circulated
by rumour mongers on the social media.
“During our
last meeting six months ago, we spent a lot of time to discuss many things, but
from the earlier discussion, is the north much better now than we were six months
ago? If yes, it means we are making progress, if no, why?
“All that
has been the problem is to implement decisions taken at such a meeting by
everybody. I think we are not short of solutions to all our problems, what we
are short of, all of us, is sincerity and commitment to really do what we say
publicly. If we don’t change, our situation will continue to get worse.
“At this
meeting, we need to discuss what came out of the January meeting, how far we
have gone in trying to implement some of the decisions we have taken and chart
the way forward.
“I should
remind us, so many of us who are also religious leaders, to be cautious over
inciting utterances and ambiguous words on issues that shouldn’t have been
brought up.
“What we do
or how we go about some of these issues, you don’t make ambiguous statements
which will be very difficult to withdraw. We are aware of the implications
because the social media is so negative now that people formulate stories that
never existed and polish them to be true,” the monarch cautioned.
While
commending some governors for hard work and resilience with regard to education
in the north, he said the traditional rulers were collectively committed to
making the north the envy of the rest of the world.
“But we have
to and we must be up and doing, we must throw away our lazy attitude because
whatever problems we have in our region, we are more educated to find solution
to them. I assure you of our support, and you must continue to see us
(traditional rulers) as partners in this long and tough journey to emancipating
our people from the grip of poverty and lazy life.”
The
governors cautioned those agitating for restructuring of the country and the
protagonists of the Republic of Biafra against endangering the unity of
Nigeria, saying that the nation might not survive under such divisive
tendencies.
The Chairman
of the Northern Governors’ Forum’s and Governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima
who spoke at the meeting listed the current issues threatening the unity of the
nation as the agitation for restructuring, creation of a Biafran State and the
Fulani herdsmen’s attacks on communities. He urged prompt action to tackle
these issues.
Shettima,
who was represented by the Governor of Katsina State, Aminu Masari at the
two-day meeting which began yesterday, said: “Agreed that being citizens of a
democratic country, Nigerians are entitled to exercising their constitutionally
guaranteed freedom of speech and association, and the clamour for the
restructuring of the country falls within the purview of these freedoms. But
the exercise of such rights outside the confines of responsibility is not
acceptable.
“The resort
to shenanigans, hate speech, and sometimes incitement to violence by
organisations such as IPOB and MASSOB must be unconditionally condemned as they
are inimical to national unity, stability, peaceful coexistence and national
security.
“These
elements must be encouraged to pursue their agitations within processes
enshrined in our constitution and with the full and willing participation of
all parts of our nation.”
The governor
urged southern leaders to condemn the agitation the way northern leaders
condemned the ultimatum given by some northern youths to Igbo residing in the
north to leave by October 1.
On the
dangers allegedly posed by those agitating for restructuring and a Biafran
State, the northern governors drew attention to contemporary history of
countries where such tendencies led to destabilisation.
“We must
constantly be aware of the terrain and times. We have a country that has gone
through a civil war, military coups and counter-coups, some of them bloody,
prolonged military dictatorships, several false starts as a democracy,
insurgency and banditry and a huge youth population whose huge expectations are
far from being met. Our peculiar circumstances have made it difficult to
deliver and what we need is trust and hope to see us through the difficult
times. We shall overcome, but we need all the survival techniques our
collective talent can muster.”
The governor
of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, in an address, said: “We commend the
resilience of our communities in the North-East which has begun the process of
recovery from the ravages of insurgency.
“Security
remains a challenge across our states. The frequency and savagery of communal
clashes in some of our states, and the prevalence of untoward phenomena such as
rural banditry, cattle-rustling and kidnapping need to be tackled. The
festering sores left by previous conflicts in which proper closure,
accountability for crimes and reconciliation were not effected appear to be
accelerating a descent into impunity and a situation in which many elites are
too short-sighted to recognise the dangers of embroiling our communities in
repeated cycles of violence.”
And as the
October 1 ultimatum given to Igbo to vacate the north approaches, a South West
group, Yoruba Liberation Command (YOLICOM) has declared secession from Nigeria
and sought the creation of Oduduwa Republic.
Making the
declaration yesterday in Lagos, the group said it had no apology for the
decision, as its people wished to see an end to the over
100 years of
bitter acrimony, ethnic rivalry, savage killings, blackmail of the Yoruba
nation, and excruciating burden of coming from a country with the stigma of
terrorism.
The group’s
spokesman, Opeoluwa Akinola, who disclosed this at a press conference held at
Ogba, said it was time for the Yoruba nation to exit the ‘axis of evil’ called
Nigeria, having endured its misery, destruction of values and the cultural
genocide inflicted on its heritage.
“We totally
reject the idea of restructuring as proposed. It is an attempt to restructure
Nigeria on their own terms and not on the terms of the people. Nigeria will
never be genuinely restructured by the present crop of political leaders who
are themselves beneficiaries of the same skewed system.
“Even if the
country will be restructured, it will pass through the National Assembly, which
was created during the era of military rule of the Fulani to ensure an upper
hand for the Fulani North. The National Assembly is an organ of the Fulani and
their agents, so also is the Nigerian military, which has continuously been
used to repress, intimidate and humiliate Nigerians,” he said.
Akinola
lamented that Nigeria has become a burden on the Yoruba people and its people
have been exposed to unimaginable threats of violence, wiping off entire
families through clubbing to death, kidnapping, savage killings, rape of
infants, stealing of public wealth and public display of stolen wealth with arrogance
by the criminals.
“We hereby
display the proposed flag of the Yoruba nation as a symbol of mobilisation of
our long suffering people, out of the huge
slum and
prison called Nigeria, a country built and sustained by corruption,
blood-shedding, malicious damage and total contempt for humanity.
“We call on
the United Nations (UN) to immediately put the machinery in motion for the
immediate dissolution of Nigeria and set the captives free. If Nigeria fails to
heed this advice to dissolve the unholy and cruel union, the perpetrators and
beneficiaries of the blood- sucking nation will have themselves to blame,” he
warned.
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