Buhari's Speech: Nigeria's Unity Negotiable, IYC Insists

Posted by George on Mon 21st Aug, 2017 - tori.ng

President Buhari has been cautioned by the leadership of the Ijaw Youth Council Worldwide over his stand on the unity of Nigeria as heard in his latest public address.

President Muhammadu Buhari

The umbrella body of Ijaw youths, the Ijaw Youth Council Worldwide, has insisted that Nigeria’s unity is negotiable.

President Buhari had said in a nationwide broadcast on Monday morning that Nigeria’s unity was not negotiable, warning agitators to desist from such quest.

But the President, IYC, Mr. Eric Omare, insisted on Monday that the unity and continuous existence of Nigeria is negotiable.

Omare said that the President’s mere statement that Nigeria’s unity is not negotiable was not the solution to the agitations by various ethnic nationalities.

He said Buhari’s statement was reminiscent of previous statements by successive leaders, especially military heads of state, without addressing the root causes of peoples’ agitations.

The IYC leader said, ”The solution in the opinion of the IYC is for President Muhammadu Buhari to take practical steps towards addressing the causes of persistent agitations in the country rather than shutting the door of engagement that would lead to the resolution of the agitations.

”Mr. President must do away with politicking and rise up to the national challenges as a statesman. We strongly hold the view that threats of brute force would not quell the agitations.

”It is only a sincere and painstaking discussions that would solve the problems. This is becausse some of the agitations are genuine and need to be addressed.”

Omare, therefore, called on President Buhari to have a change of approach towards the resolution of the ongoing agitations and threats to national security by adopting constructive engagement to resolve the issues.