Pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, on Monday, urged President Muhammadu Buhari to put into practice, the justice, fairness and equity he preached on the floor of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) last Friday.
Afenifere stated in a statement made available to journalists in Ibadan by its national publicity secretary, Comrade Jare Ajayi.
Recall that President Buhari, while calling for the reform of the UN, said: “Without justice, the legitimacy (even efficacy) of our organization is called to question.”
The pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation noted that President Buhari called for dialogue between Israel and Palestine to resolve their differences as the skirmish between the duo bordered on “the question of justice, fairness and equity” and that the President also talked about the commitment of his administration to the respect of human rights.
According to Afenifere, going by President Buhari’s presentation at the UN last Friday, it should be noted that ethnic nationalities and other concerned stakeholders in Nigeria have been calling for dialogue to resolve ‘Nigeria issues’ for long, but the federal government under President Buhari has not only been ignoring them but hounding those calling for such dialogue.
“It is interesting, perhaps comforting, that the Nigerian authority realises that dialogue is the way to go in resolving knotty issues. It is however hypocrisy of the highest order for this same authority to be prescribing this to foreign authorities while describing those calling for the same thing at home as ‘hate speech makers’ and separatists,” it said.
Afenifere added that “the reform that Buhari advocated for the United Nations is the same thing those calling for dialogue at home are calling for. Why and how our president considered reform and dialogue as necessary at the global level but consider same as anathema in Nigeria beats one’s imagination. It is called Reform at the global level and Restructuring at home.”
On internal security in Nigeria, Afenifere asserted that the reality on ground belies the president’s claim, saying, ” the president, in his speech, had given the impression that terrorists have more or less surrendered to the Nigerian Army.”
“We, as Afenifere, commend the heroic efforts of the Nigerian Army but it is a fact that activities of terrorists appear to be more expanding rather than receding, going by the submission of the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Farouq, that over 330,000 Nigerian refugees are languishing in neighbouring countries due to insurgency and armed banditry in the North East and North West as well as Kaduna State Governor El Rufai that advocated for the military to be decentralized. “
