Following the dust raised by the ethnic struggle between Igbo from the South East and Northern Youths, Acting President Yemi Osinbajo has embarked on series of peace meetings with leaders of thought from different parts of the country.
According to the tweet by the senior special assistant in the office of acting President, Laolu Akande, Professor Osinbajo began the series of peace meeting today, Tuesday with the leaders and other stakeholders from the North.
He wrote: “Acting President Osinbajo will start a series of consultations with Leaders of Thought from the Northern & Eastern regions of the country this afternoon.”
Akande said that Professor Osinbajo would first meet each group separately on
different days this week and then meet them together afterwards.
“Acting President met over weekend with security chiefs and gave firm instructions on need to protect lives and property of all Nigerians always, everywhere.”
The Acting President, while speaking at a consultative meeting with Leaders of Thoughts from the Northern states of the country, at the Banquet Hall, Presidential Villa, Abuja, today, Tuesday, said that government would invoke it’s full powers to crush any persons or groups that cause violence in Nigeria.
“People are bound to complain of marginalization but we must be careful the way we go about it. This is not the time to retreat but it is a time to come to gether and work together. Hate or decisive speeches will be met with decisive action. No one will be made to get away with hate speeches that will led to violence.”
Osinbajo said that government will take very seriously any hate or decisive speeches designed to cause “violence and disrupt the peace of this country. It is so because when violence starts you can not control it. Wars these days don’t end.
We owe it a duty to hand our generations a peaceful country. Leaving in a diverse country like our, we are sure to face challenges considering our diverse nature. In the past few weeks their have been louder noises of hate and decisive speeches more than the past. Their was the loud agitation about secession by some groups in the southeast and those affiliated to them. The call by a group of young people from the North giving ultimatum for those from the east to leave by October. Their are those who may say they should be ignored but I believe we need to address these issues.”
“Our diverse nature has been our strength. We do not have any sort of homogenous place. Any stone strown may hit targets that they are not intended so that we don’t create crisis not intended.”
The acting president who expressed gratitude at the presence of the Northern leaders disclosed that the consultative meetings would continue with tradition as well as religious leaders from both South and North and that the consultation will end on Sunday.
Present at the meeting are Senate President Bukola Saraki, Speaker of the House of Representatives Yakubu Dogara, IGP, NSA, Abba Kyari, chief of staff to the president Mansur Dan-Ali, minister of defence, Adulrahman Dambazau, minister of interior among others.
Some Of the leaders from the North are Ibrahim Coomasies, Arewa Onsultative Forum (ACF) Chairman, Yakubu Pam, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) chairman Northern Nigeria, Gen Martin Agwai (rtd), Bashir Ibrahim, Kabiru Chafe, Ibrahim Wushishi, Aliyiu Wamako, Ango Abdullahi, Fatimah Abubakar and Mohammed Hyatudeen among others. [myad]
