South West governors have expressed anger over the call by the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), asking all Fulani residing in Southern parts of the country to return to the north, describing such call as most unfortunate, divisive and retrogressive.

In a statement today, July 20, personally signed by their Chairman and Ondo state Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu in Akure condemned such call, saying: “with no intention to engage anyone, it is incumbent on us, as elected representatives of our people in the South West Region of the country, to denounce this divisive and retrogressive statement in the strongest terms possible.

“The South West Governors’ Forum views, with palpable trepidation and outrage, the sustained attempts to fan the ember of discord, seizing every opportunity offered by the current security challenge to undermine the unity and peaceful co-existence among Nigerians.

“It is appalling, to assert the least, that the tragic incident, which claimed the life of Mrs. Funke Olakunrin, the daughter of Pa Fasoranti, the leader of Afenifere, would be used by certain persons to advance the cause of parochial politics.

“We intend to get to the root of the sad occurrence as we await the findings of security agencies on the unfortunate incident.

“The Governors and the people of the South West are working assiduously at the current security challenges with a view to finding lasting solutions to curtail the nefarious activities of undesirable elements bent on wrecking our collective peace.

“We are not unaware of the antics of certain elements, who hope to garner political mileage from the contrived crises in virtually all parts of the country.

“We are equally convinced that this confusion serves the narrow interests of some persons.

“The country has a rich history; she has had to encounter adversities in the course of her transition to nationhood. She has overcome them all.

“This distraction will also pass. We look up to the security agencies to take cohesive steps to curtail this major challenge of insecurity which engenders hopelessness.

“We can only enjoin all citizens, on our part, to be patient and continue to cooperate with them as they combat the festering crises. We on our part have taken great strides with the hope that great success will be achieved.

“We are, through this medium, reiterating the commitment of the Governors and the people of the South West to the nationhood project, as we continue to address the challenges confronting our people.”

The governors promised that they “will promote, with renewed vigour, all activities which encourage amity among our people. They therefore called “on all persons of Fulani extraction, and indeed all Nigerians from other parts of the country, resident in the South West Region, to discountenance the unpatriotic outburst of the Northern Elders Forum and other self-serving organizations of opportunists.”

Source: Vanguard

President Muhammadu Buhari has asked Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to embark on the consultations with a number of leading traditional rulers with the aim of securing the peace and effective maintenance of law and order across the country.

This, according to statement by Laolu Akande, senior special assistant to Vice President Osinbajo, is part of the determination by President Buhari to develop and reinforce effective strategies towards addressing security concerns in the country

Akande said that Professor Osinbajo dropped the hint today in Ogun State at the take-off of what is expected to be wide consultations with key traditional rulers in the state, and across the country.
“Answering reporters’ questions after separate meetings with the Akarigbo of Remoland and the Awujale of Ijebuland, the Vice President noted that the consultations would be done with traditional rulers across the country to ensure peace and security in their communities.
“As you know, there are many significant concerns all over the country; and of course there are concerns also in the South West. So, I’m here on the instruction of Mr. President to consult with the Kayibesi, Governor Dapo Abiodun and other stakeholders on what to do to beef up security, and to generally improve the security architecture.”
Akande said that after meeting the Awujale, the Vice President said: “of course, you know that the Kabiyesi is not just the traditional ruler, but also a very important part of the government. That’s why we are here to speak with him and to agree on a few modalities for beefing up security, ensuring that we are fully conscious of all that is going on around us, and just to be sure that peace and security reigns here and across the country.
“There are some who might want to cause instability and difficulties, but we are very confident that God helping us, working together as a nation, we will be able to overcome all our problems and set our country on the path of peace and prosperity.”
He quoted the Vice President as saying that the Federal Government, in collaboration with State Governments, has taken significant steps to improve security, while there would be further consultations with the traditional rulers.
Professor Osinbajo said that the governor of the state was committed “to ensuring there is peace and security and that everyone who lives in all our neighbourhoods, localities and communities live in peace with each other and that we maintain a high level of security.”
On the nationwide consultations with traditional rulers to improve security in their respective communities, the Vice President said: “we are consulting with many of the traditional rulers all across the country. But there are concerns in the South West. I’ve started here in Ogun. We are also going to be in Osun State on Tuesday. We are also going to go round and see several other traditional rulers. Primarily, they themselves want to participate. We’ve spoken at various times and they want to participate in improving the security architecture.”
“One of the things that Mr. President has spoken about is the role of traditional rulers in maintaining peace and security in their own locality. As you know, they are the closest to the grassroots, to their communities. And one of the critical things that we expect is that even with our community policing efforts; we expect that there would be some interventions between the traditional rulers, the community police and some of the other efforts that they are making to improve intelligence to understand what is going on. We need to know who is where and what exactly is happening all around, so that these can then be transmitted to the security agencies.”
Akande said that the Vice President would continue on the consultations early next week.