Nigeria needs dialogue not secession – Cleric

The Chief Imam of the University of Ibadan, Prof Abdulrahman Oloyede, has declared that what Nigeria needs to solve its current challenges is dialogue and not secession.

Prof Oloyede said this on Sunday at a two-day seminar organised by the Federation of Ahlus-Sunnah organisations in Nigeria (FASON) in Ibadan.

In a lecture entitled “Lies and facts of one Nigeria”, the cleric stressed that those clamouring for Yoruba Nation can get whatever they want without dividing the country.

“We can get whatever we want in Nigeria if we remain together. It is not until we clamour for secession. What we needed to do is to sit down together to dialogue and find solutions to the problems. And that is allowed in Islam”, he said.

He advised the Yoruba, especially the Muslims, to speak with one voice, saying: “We must speak in one voice. God has created us in different tribes for us to know each other.”

According to the Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies, “There should be justice, the leaders should be accountable to the people”, adding, ” same thing applicable to the followers. Let the leaders be accountable and followers to be accountable in the distribution of the resources God has given to us in the country.”

Speaking with newsmen on the seminar, the Acting Amir of FASON, Sheik Tajudeen Abdulkareem Al-Adabi said it was to educate the public that secession is not the solution to the problem of Nigeria.