State governors in Nigeria have restated their resolve to strengthen the unity of the country amidst rising divisive rhetoric by some aggrieved youths from sections of the country. The Governors made this known on Wednesday while speaking with State House correspondents after a meeting with the Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo.
The meeting is one in the series organized by the Federal Government as part of efforts to douse rising ethnic tension fuelled primarily by calls for the dissolution of the country by youths from the South East as well as an ultimatum issued by Arewa Youths directing Igbos to vacate the northern part of the country within 3 months.
The Governor of Oyo state, Abiola Ajimobi who spoke on behalf of the Governors said “Any time you have agitation, usually, there will be poverty; there will be unemployment; there will be hardship. So, we should address fundamentally these areas of poverty, unemployment and hardship. Nigerians are by nature a united people; nobody cares whether you are from the north, south or the east.”
Governor Ajimobi who also warned against the consequences of war, advised Nigerians to learn from Rwanda, Somalia and Sudan. He disclosed that the governors resolved to go back to their various states to douse the rising tension as well and emplace measures that will strengthen national peace and unity.
Earlier, the Acting President stated that “We are a people that like to talk and we express ourselves loudly but it is expected for us to recognize that it is those same words that can cause conflagration; that can unfortunately lead to calamity. We must be careful on how we express ourselves."
He lamented that "What we have seen in recent times is that some of the languages (words) used have tended to degenerate badly and I think that we must begin to speak up against some of these things and ensure that we protect our democracy and our nation from the hands of rhetoric that may just divide us."
Prof Osinbajo also disclosed that “We agreed that leaders, at all levels, must speak out forcefully against any kind of divisiveness or divisive speech. And we expect that our political leaders will do so without waiting to be prompted." Governors of the following states attended the meeting Borno, Akwa Ibom, Plateau, Taraba, Ondo, Anambra, Sokoto, Adamawa, Bayelsa, and Ebonyi. Others include Osun, Benue and Oyo among others.
