A Yoruba group made up of eminent Nigerians, Voice of Reason (VOR), on Saturday called on President Muhammadu Buhari to listen to agitations of the Yoruba nation and other ethnic groups calling for the restructuring of the country towards devolution of powers to geopolitical zones, saying recent attacks and killings in the Southern part of Nigeria by suspected Fulani herdsmen have shown that the Yoruba have become endangered species in the country.

The group in a statement disclosed that the Yoruba nation is the only region of the three initial federating units that have never sought secession, adding that the gathering storm, articulated in calls for secession among the Yoruba people, has shown that Nigeria’s current unitary system of government is neither viable nor sustainable.

VOR recalled that the emergence of President Buhari as President of Nigeria in 2015 was achieved with what it described as the “active collaboration of Yoruba mainstream, predicated on the covenant he made to restructure the country”, while observing that since assuming office, Buhari has done “everything to decimate the Yoruba and other indigenous nations, impede their growth and checkmate their advancement socially, politically and economically.”

According to the group, with skewed appointments to favour the Northern Muslims, particularly the Fulani, it stressed that even some fair-minded Northerners were scandalised by President Buhari’s impunity and unbridled efforts at state capture through Fulanisation Agenda, insisting that the Yoruba people could “no longer play along with this long-term surreptitious agenda at our own peril.”

It maintained that Nigerians are constantly being troubled by the spate of insecurity in the country, pointing out that no part of Nigeria is at peace, as bandits, ISWAP and Boko Haram continue to ravage the North, while Fulani herdsmen have been on the rampage in the whole of the South.

“Nigeria under President Buhari has turned into a nightmare for all indigenous people. The economy is in tatters and the country is debt-ridden to the extent of spending 90 per cent of its revenue servicing debt, even as more borrowings are being approved by the National Assembly. There is no guarantee of the sanctity of life and property while pursuit of happiness for the generality of the people is unattainable.”

While condemning the recent midnight attack on the home of Yoruba activist, Chief Sunday Igboho, that resulted in the death of some persons, the group termed it a decent into despotism, insisting that such act was provocative and unacceptable to the Yoruba.

It, however, commended the approach of southern governors to demand for restructuring, urging them to invite their counterparts in the Middle Belt region who also bear the brunt of rampaging Fulani “ethnic-cleansing” militia for a unified approach.

“We note their carefully worded communiqué but urge better clarity in order to carry the populace along. It is confusing advocating federalism or devolution of powers, praising the passage of the mutilated PIB bill and 2023 presidency in the same breath. This is not the time for politicking.”

The group also warned that the new Electoral Act was rigged with provisions that are discordant to transparency, adding that the bizarre allocation of polling units based on “rigged population numbers in the North are further inklings to what await those that are undiscerning,” it said. (Sunday Tribune)

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