Yoruba pan socio-cultural group, Afenifere, has described as unfortunate the statements credited to the Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, on calls by some sections for self-determination.
Recall that Shehu on Tuesday at an event organised by the All Progressives Congress (APC) Professional Forum to showcase the achievements of the President Buhari-led administration, had said those calling for secession from the country are its problem.
Shehu added that Buhari would, however, not be intimidated by the calls for secession by some persons, pointing out that the country will remain united no matter what.
“You can’t intimidate Buhari, you can’t bully him, a lot of these people who are calling for secession are the problem of this country, I am happy that reasonable voices are now rising,” he said.
But reacting in a statement signed by General Secretary of Afenifere, Chief Sola Ebiseni, the group said the agitation for self-determination by secessionists is gaining ground because of refusal by the Federal Government to heed calls for restructuring.
It said Southern Leaders, Middle Belt Forum, the Arewa Consultative Forum and Northern Elders Forum have reached a national consensus on the imperative and inevitability of restructuring.
Ebiseni said Garba soiled the image of his principal on how insensitive the President could be in the face of undeniable national calamity.
He argued the “continuity” comment of President Mohammadu Buha was uninspiring and insensitive.
He said Nigerians have looked beyond President Buhari on salvaging what is left of the country.
The Afenifere scribe stated the people did not bother to submit further memoranda to the National Assembly on restructuring because the lawmakers could not be judges in their own cases.
According to the statement: “If the National Assembly has no courage to look into the reports of the 2014 National Conference and of the El-Rufai True Federalism Committee of the Ruling party, no such exercise by the National Assembly is worthwhile.
“Garba Shehu is at liberty to give whatever warped interpretation he feels like giving the statement of the Leader of Afenifere which unambiguously showed that the refusal of the government to give heed to the calls for restructuring, of which the Afenifere is the foremost champion, is the fertile ground for self-determination and secessionist agitations.
“Those who feel firmly rooted in their positions may wish to take the counsel of elders that the contest for the ring on the finger of the dreaded Oracle may not spare the finger itself in the fullness of time.”