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General News of Tuesday, 2 March 2021

Source: guardian.ng

Groups chide Buhari over insecurity, call for end to kidnapping

Dr Yemi Farounbi Dr Yemi Farounbi

A Pan-Yoruba group, The Oduduwa Assembly (TOAS), has chided President Muhammadu Buhari on his indifference to insecurity in the country, urging a peaceful transition to “Oodua nation” that will cater for all interests.

President of the group, Dr Yemi Farounbi, in a communique, yesterday, in Akure after their meeting, re-affirmed the group’s commitment to Oodua nation within the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Farounbi, who berated the manner the Buhari-led administration had been handling security challenges, ranging from killings, herdsmen’s activities, raping, kidnapping and many other issues bedevilling the nation, said: “The weapons of our warfare are not physical but intellectual. Yoruba are one united and indivisible people and shall work together achieving our aim.
“Yoruba must speak with one voice to demand rights to own their destiny through peaceful negotiations and civil means with local and international governments and institutions.

“We are passionate about the economic agenda that we should be able to feed ourselves, transport ourselves and work communally together. We provide a market for the northern tomatoes, pepper, yams, beans, potatoes and onions. These were things we produced in the past.”

The group, therefore, urged leaders in the region to begin to empower and encourage unemployed youths to go into mechanised farming, saying: “South-West governors should plough, harrow and prepare the lands for our youths.

“A region that cannot feed itself cannot stand on its own. The diseases troubling the Yoruba have deeper roots and we have to look at different ways of tackling them.

“We are not just a cultural organisation but one that is determined to see how we could bring the best to Yorubaland. It is not a good thing to begin to seek a Yoruba Republic now, as a lot still needs to be done before that. The best of the Yoruba cannot be yesterday.”

ALSO, worried by the rising cases of insecurity across the country, another group, the Society for Peace Studies and Practice, has urged the Federal Government to deploy diplomatic and coercive instruments to avert further carnage in major flashpoints across the country.

In a statement jointly signed by its National President, Dr Nathaniel Danjibo and National Secretary, Dr Adeola Adams, the group condemned the kidnapping of students and clashes in Shasha market and Igangan in Oyo State.

The group, in the statement issued as part of activities marking the special induction ceremony of new members organised for the post-graduate students of the Department of Peace, Security and Humanitarian Studies, University of Ibadan (UI), during the eighth yearly capacity training workshop in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State, expressed deep concerns over the security situation in various parts of the country.

The society further appealed to the aggrieved parties to sheathe their swords and warned those manipulating ethnicity and religion to foment troubles to desist from such unwholesome acts in the interest of peace, harmony and unity of the country.