The Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has warned the Federal Government that the ultimatum given to the Igbo living in the North could lead to anarchy if not checked.
According to him, the trend of statements credited to some elements in the North has shown clearly that Nigeria is no longer one.
He said this while reacting to a quit notice to the Igbo in the North by the Coalition of Northern Groups, which was recently backed by some northern elders, including a former Vice-Chancellor of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Prof. Ango Abdullahi.
Fayose said the unity of the nation was threatened like never before.
He blamed this on what he described as the nonchalant attitude of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led All Progressives Congress Federal Government.
Also, the President of the Ohanaeze in the South-West, Chief Nathaniel Uzomah, has said that the North stand to lose more if the Igbo obey the quit notice.
He said, “In this our Nigeria, every tribe is important and we exist for one another. Truth is that the northerners would lose more if our Igbo brothers vacate the North. This is why I want to even believe that they must be joking about that quit notice.
“We are very much important to them there. You all know that we have invested trillions of naira there. Do you think that if the Igbo are leaving the North, they would leave those property and investment behind?”
Fayose lamented that the gap among ethnic groups in Nigeria had widened beyond measure because of the body language of the Buhari administration.
“We are more divided than ever. The elements are emboldened because they believe their person is in office and nothing would happen.
“This is not surprising to some of us as the herdsmen set the tone and became notorious under the watch of Buhari.”
Also, the Governor of Plateau State, Simon Lalong, has described as ill-conceived, the order handed down to the Igbo to quit the 19 northern states before October 1 by some Arewa groups.
He called on the South-East governors to resist any attempt by groups in their domains to cause trouble as a reaction to the quit notice.
Lalong, in a statement issued by his Director of Press and Public Affairs, Dr. Emmanuel Nanle, on Sunday, regretted that such a threat could be given by northern youth groups.
He said, “The order is not only ill-conceived and low in public morality but also a total departure from the virtues and values of communality, accommodation and peaceful coexistence that characterises the true northern spirit.”
He called on the governors in the South-East to resist any attempt, however, remotely motivated to create value for the position of the northern youths.
Lalong said the quit order by the youths did not represent the position of the leadership of northern Nigeria.
Meanwhile, a conglomeration of 15 churches in the 19 northern states of Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory, on Sunday, condemned the ultimatum issued by Arewa youths for the Igbo to quit.
The organisation, under the aegis of Tarayar Ekklisiyoyin Kristi a Nigeria, called on security agencies to arrest those behind the provocative order.
A statement by the General Secretary, TEKAN, Moses Ebuga, described the ultimatum as a threat to national security.
It can be recalled that the Arewa groups had, in a communiqué issued in Kaduna after their meeting, given a three-month ultimatum to people of Igbo extraction resident in the 19 states in the North, to leave the North or be forced out after October 1, 2017.
Those who endorsed the resolution are Nastura Sharif (Arewa Citizens Action for Change); Ambassador Shettima Yerima (Arewa Youth Consultative Forum); Aminu Adam (Arewa Youth Development Foundation); Alfred Solomon (Arewa Students Forum); Abdul-Azeez Suleiman (Northern Emancipation Network), and Joshua Viashman (Northern Youth Vanguard).
Their position was backed by a leader of Arewa Elders’ Forum and former Vice-Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, Prof. Ango Abdullahi.
Meanwhile, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State has called on Nigerians beating the drums of war to learn from the experiences of the country’s civil war.
He stressed that Nigeria could not afford to be plunged into another form of war from those preaching hate in the country.
Speaking at a thanksgiving service organised by the Delta State House of Assembly, on Sunday, to mark the second anniversary of the 6th assembly, Okowa advised Nigerians to continue to pray for the unity of the country.
Okowa noted that it was only through a sober reflection on the past that those spoiling for war would better appreciate the need for a united nation, urging everyone to desist from anything capable of causing war.
He said, “In this time, we don’t need another war. It is time for us to think and reflect on the past and build a greater and more united country. Nigeria needs God to survive. By the grace of God, Nigeria is one and will remain as one.
“Christians should continue to pray for the country, we don’t want to see war. It is time to re-examine ourselves, examine our homes and to think of our existence. We need to reflect on things we do as parents and what we are inculcating into our children because as parents, we must build in our children the knowledge of God for us to have a better society.”
The governor, while commending the lawmakers for their support for his administration, urged them to continue to discharge their duties diligently with the fear of God and in the interest of their constituents.
On his part, the Speaker of the Assembly, Mr. Sheriff Oborevwori, implored Nigerians to always seek the face of God so as to move Nigeria and the state forward.
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