A coalition, Yoruba Appraisal Forum (YAF), on Friday urged caution over the on-going national debate arising from the resolutions of last Monday’s Southern Governors’ Forum meeting.
YAF noted that the tension being generated by the resolutions of the Southern governors with the rest of the country had become a cause for concern amongst Nigerians.
Already, Northern governors and elders, youth as well as various groups had rejected the position of the Southern governors, particularly on power shift and other demands they made in their Monday meeting in Lagos.
In a statement released to newsmen Friday in Abuja, YAF’s national coordinator, Adeshina Animashaun, however, alleged that certain actions by some powerful politicians and individuals in the various Southern states since Monday when the Lagos meeting ended could spark off “serious tension” amongst the different ethnic groups making up the Nigerian Federation.
According to YAF, these powerful politicians have been putting pressure on the traditional rulers and civil society groups in their individual states to organise similar meetings to that of the Southern governors and issue communiqués supporting last Monday’s resolutions in Lagos.
The Coalition noted that the utterances of some of the civil society groups “already recruited by these powerful politicians have left so much to be desired as their statements on the issue border on threats to the rest of the country.”
It stated that it was concerned about the implications of the threats already being issued by some of these civil society groups and individuals to the rest of the country over the Southern governors’ demands.
It warned that the existing peaceful atmosphere prevailing in the country in recent past should not be disturbed or threatened by issues that could be amicably resolved.
It, therefore, appealed to Nigerians from all sections of the country to be calm and allow peace to continue to reign even in the face of the various vexing national issues some individuals and groups had been exploring to further their own selfish interests.
