The Arewa Youth Coalition has faulted President Muhammadu Buhari over his insistence that the unity of the province is non-negotiable. The grouping urged the regime to comport a plebiscite to render an function out door for those who did non wishing to live on business office of Nigeria.
Buhari, who returned on Saturday, afterwards 103 days inwards London, for medical treatment, said inwards a nationawide broadcast on Mon that the province was improve off staying together.
But rise from a town hall coming together for the North East geopolitical zone, yesterday, the coalition disagreed alongside him on the non-negotiability of the unity of the country.
National Chairman of the coalition, Alhaji Yerima Shettima told newsmen inwards Gombe, yesterday, that Nigeria should create an function out door for the Biafra agitators yesteryear convening a referendum.
“The president simply came dorsum from his medical vocation. In normal circumstances, ane should guide maintain expected him to accept some fourth dimension to guide maintain a clear review of situations inwards the province afterwards spending 103 days abroad.
“His contestation is a welcome evolution to some extent because at that topographic point are issues; the unity of the province is beingness threatened. I intend the focus of the president was basically on the threat to our national unity together with those were the telephone substitution issues he spoke about. In addition, that nosotros would no longer tolerate anybody undermining the safety of the country. Certainly, agreed, it should live on that agency every bit he felt. But I experience also that on the side of international police line to which Nigeria is signatory, it is expected that regime must create an function out door for those who experience they wishing to leave of absence through a plebiscite together with every bit stipulated inwards the 1999 constitution.
“It would non augur good if nosotros insist on living alongside people who exercise non wishing to live on business office of the province together with they proceed threatening the unity of the country. It may fifty-fifty seem to the international community similar a mockery.
“If the regime is upwardly together with doing, permit us abide yesteryear the demands of the international police line yesteryear creating an function out door for those agitating for self determination,” Shettima said.
The Arewa youth coalition chairman, however, said he was optimistic that alongside a referendum, the Igbo people would chose to remain business office of Nigeria.
“Certainly, the IPOB cannot live on said to live on speaking for the South-East because they are less than 10 per centum of the Igbo communities who are willing to remain inwards Nigeria,” he said.
He explained that the coming together inwards Gombe was continuation of the coalition’s resolution to teach circular the geopolitical zones inwards the due north to sensitise the people together with utter over alongside them alongside a sentiment at arriving at decisions. The North West together with North Central coming together had before held inwards Kano together with Nasarawa, respectively.
Shedding low-cal on the Oct 1 quit bring out issued to Igbo, Shettima lamented that the group’s message inwards the Kaduna Declaration was misunderstood.
“An private cannot grip the province to ransom. We felt patriotic individuals from the South East should guide maintain lent their voices to safeguard the unity of the province yesteryear condemning the IPOB agitators. If, however, some individuals then much believe inwards their Biafra, permit such people teach to your Biafra. Don’t convey state of war to the North, to Nigeria,” he explained.
He noted that people inwards the North genuinely wishing a united Nigeria, a province he said where all would come upwardly together to construct a manly nation.
“Our telephone telephone is beingness misunderstood. We guide maintain been misquoted yesteryear mischief-makers who made it seem nosotros are calling for violence. That is why nosotros are non faceless together with nosotros response to calls anywhere for dialogue alongside elderberry statesmen.”
Shettima said to some extent, the coalition concurred alongside the President, peculiarly on the consequence of safety but non on the non-negotiability of the unity of the country.
Those at the coming together inwards Gombe were representatives of youths cutting across segments of the monastic enjoin including representatives from religious organisations similar the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) together with Jamatul Nasirul Islam (JNI).
SunNews