By Matilda Ikediobi
Some pan-Yoruba groups, under the aegis of Alliance for Yoruba Democratic Movement, AYDM, have demanded that the country’s next President must come from the South, warning that anything short of power rotation will be a recipe for disintegration of the country.
They said while the North has ruled Nigeria for 46 years, the South has ruled for only 20 years, adding that any attempt by the North to produce the next President would be resisted.
The groups spoke at a conference themed: ‘Democracy and Good Governance in Nigeria: People’s Power and Voters in Nigeria,’ which had over 800 delegates and was held in Lagos.
Rising from the meeting, participants urged President Bola Tinubu and the National Assembly to restructure the country before the 2027 elections.
In the communique issued after the event and signed by AYDM General Secretary, Popoola Ajayi, Rasaq Arogundade, Taofik Adeyemi and Alice Asoropa, they said: “The crisis in the Middle East occasioned by the feud between Iran and Israel-United States is being exploited by radical extremists in Nigeria to carry out their preconceived agenda of terror aimed at setting the country on fire. The recent introduction of Improvised Explosive Devices which killed a man and another mother and child in Kwara state shows that terrorists in Nigeria have entered a new phase in their evil plot to topple democracy and turn Nigeria into a field of blood and arson.
‘The current Federal Government is dealing with economic, political and military wings of terrorism in Nigeria. The terrorists have economic and ideological funders masquerading as elected and unelected politicians and statesmen. It’s one single scourge with the single aim of gaining power to turn Nigeria into a theocratic fiefdom. The problem with the terrorists is that they take actions without thinking twice. They want to destroy the political, cultural and economic foundations of Nigeria.
“The country is witnessing a very tough economic experience characterised by hunger and misery compounded by terrorism. Power distribution companies have become the number one enemy of the South-West due to its gross incompetence, savage exploitation of the people and its determination to stunt industrial development of the South West.
“Nigeria needs to transform from a garrison state to a truly democratic country reflecting the country’s diversity and plural civilisation. There is no time to waste. This is an historic step that should have been taken more than 50 years ago.
“In the strongest terms, we condemn the ravaging terrorists that have taken over South-West territories, killing and maiming our people, men, women, infants and even pregnant women being slaughtered by Fulani terrorists. In the past five years, four traditional rulers have been killed in the South-West by terrorists of Fulani extraction.The latest is the planting of IED on highways to kill Yoruba people. This has been recorded in Woro, Kiama in Kwara State where it killed a man while a woman and her child were wounded.”
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