Acting President Yemi Osinbajo held meetings with traditional rulers from the north at the Old State House Banquet Hall, Abuja yesterday June 19, 2017.
The
meeting was part of Osinbajo's peaceful intervention into the eviction
threat that was issued against Igbo residents in the northern region by
the Coalition of Northern Youths (CNY) on June 6.
He met with the rulers to calm ethnic agitations and exchanges between groups in the North and South-East at the Iftar dinner.
While
addressing them, the Acting President preached for unity in the country
especially in the face of hostile rhetorics that the Kaduna declaration has caused over the past two weeks.
"Let
me first say how honoured I am by the visit of all of your royal
highnesses today for this Iftar. And just as you-(Sultan of Sokoto)
said, it involved a bit of movement back and forth; the Sultan just
arrived this morning from a trip abroad and he is still able to make it
here.
"So, I am really grateful
for your consenting to come to join us at this Iftar but also to wait
till tomorrow despite the plans that you may have made.
"Our
nation requires the kind of maturity, the kind of leadership that you
have displayed and I want to thank you for that leadership and for that
maturity.
"It is heartwarming to
know that we have leaders especially traditional leaders, who are
prepared to make sacrifices, who are prepared to make concessions and
compromises for the good of our nation and I want to thank you for that
great leadership.
"In
particular, I want to thank the Sultan for always being there, for
always being ready to offer advice and in many times to offer an
alternative view to what might appear to be the popular view and I am
extremely grateful to you for all of that support.
"The
way that we see things developing around our nation today (obviously as
you said, even within families, you have disputes, you have
controversies) is worrisome.
"All
of us have however agreed that our nation must remain one. When we
spoke yesterday with traditional rulers from the South-East; despite the
issues that were raised here and there. I think that there is clarity
as to that one thing, that our country ought to remain, must remain a
united country.
"Just as I said
to them yesterday, a lot of blood has been shed on account of the unity
of our country and our faithfulness even to the lives of those who have
made the supreme sacrifice to this country, demands that we do
everything on our part to keep this country together.
"And
in any event, the greatest nations in the world are those nations who
have the size as well as the human resources in particular to make the
best of that size, and I think our nation has that and the mere fact
that we have such a large nation and so well-endowed, in terms of human
resources.
"I think that we are
in the best position not only to be truly great but to ensure that all
of our people benefit from the greatness of our country.
"So,
I want to thank you again for your kindness and for doing us this
honour of attending this Iftar and for sharing the love of the season.
"I
pray that the almighty God will bless you and keep your kingdoms safe
and also extend your own lives so that you will rule your kingdoms for
long and you will rule your kingdoms in good health.
"Thank you," he said.
The coalition of 16 different groups, which includes Arewa Citizens Action for Change, Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, Arewa Youth Development Foundation, Arewa Students Forum and Northern Emancipation Network,
promised in their June 6 statement to execute measures to carry out
their declaration if Igbos remained in the north past the October 1
deadline.
The statement by the coalition has been met with widespread criticism, including an arrest order from Kaduna state governor, Nasir El-Rufai days later.
After meeting with northern political and religious leaders last week, Osinbajo warned that those responsible for the ultimatum risked jail terms as they violated the country's laws.
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