The political unity being enjoyed by the Yoruba speaking people in the geo-political zone may also be heading for the rocks, feelers emerged yesterday.
This is coming on the heels of a meeting between former President Olusegun Obasanjo and some leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, fuelling speculations that Obasanjo and some opposition politicians may have concluded plans to stop the re-election of President Goodluck Jonathan, come 2015.
In attendance at the meeting hosted by Obasanjo, at his hill-top residence, were former Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari; APC Interim National Chairman, Chief Bisi Akande; former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, and Governors Rochas Okorocha (Imo), Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano), Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara), Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun), Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo), as well as former Minister of Information, Price Tony Momoh and Senator Bukola Saraki, among others.
Tinubu, who addressed newsmen said they were in Abeokuta, not to woo Obasanjo, but to tap from his wealth of experience.
Appreciating Obasanjo for being a courageous leader, Tinubu said, “you have come out of tribulation and held highest position in this country. We are here because of your courage and salient point.
“You have surmounted a number of crises. Nigeria is divided more than before. To realise a stable Nigeria, we want to encourage you to continue to speak the truth. We have resolved and are determined to rescue Nigeria. We want you as our navigator”, Tinubu said.
In his comments after the meeting, Akande said the APC leaders were in Abeokuta to introduce the APC to the former president and also to show him their support.
In his response, Obasanjo said the issue of Nigeria was beyond partisan politics and that it is a national issue.
He charged the political class to engage in politics devoid of bitterness, especially now that another political dispensation is approaching.
“I regard this as an honour, to come and present your party and tell me the objectives, but let me start by saying that I am a card-carrying member of the PDP but the politics I play traverses Nigeria and Africa.
“I am a democrat and one of the essential ingredients of democracy is opposition. A democracy that has no opposition built into it is not democracy. As an opposition, you are enhancing democracy.
“I will just appeal that the politics you play is politics without rancour, without bitterness, with decency, that has Nigeria at heart. I am an incurable optimist about Nigeria, I am totally committed to Nigeria and nothing will divert me from that commitment”, Obasanjo said.
The purported tension, Sunday Newswatch gathered arose out of the divergence of opinions over the proposed national conference and the call for the impeachment of President Goodluck Jonathan.
The APC in the zone had kicked against the constitution of the proposed national conference. The party did not stop there. Last Sunday, APC, through its interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, requested the National Assembly to commence impeachment proceedings against the president, arguing that the ship of state was drifting dangerously.
The APC call came in the wake of a letter, written to Jonathan by Obasanjo, in which the former president accused Jonathan and his administration of grievous constitutional infractions.
But in a twist, the Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere threw its weight behind Jonathan, saying that the serial attacks against the president were being orchestrated by those who are bent on derailing the conference.
The group urged Jonathan not to lose focus but be ready for more opposition from those who had been beneficiaries of the political imbalance and thus, applying multiple antics to distract him.
The Afenifere group, led by Chief Reuben Fasoranti, made its position known after a meeting with Jonathan at the Presidential Villa, on Friday.
The team also had on board, the Ondo State Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko; Senator Iyiola Omisore, Chief Olaniwun Ajayi, and Yinka Odumakin, among others.
According to Afenifere, the errors Nigerians failed to rectify have become a terror unto the nation.
In a statement endorsed by Fasoranti, the group said, at every turn, the terror stare Nigerians in the face, insisting that the country cannot work as presently structured.
“This is the reason why we have insisted all these years, that Nigeria must be restructured at a national conference so that we can enunciate sound federal principles that would allow us to live together in the same country on the basis of mutual respect and freedom for all the component units to exist in their cultural habitats without injuring one another.
“Nigeria will be 100 years old next year. Its future as a united entity is threatened if we fail to have a national conference. We must have one in order to secure this country and make it fulfil its manifest destiny.
“Examples abound around the world of countries like USSR, Yugoslavia, et al, that have disintegrated in recent years, because they failed to address vexed issues in their union. No genuine patriot would wish that Nigeria ever go down such way.
“That is why we commend your initiative on a National Dialogue to bring together the peoples of Nigeria to discuss their union. This is a bold move that will earn you a good place in history, if faithfully implemented. Any leader who is able to get us out of this structural quagmire will never be forgotten.
Apparently referring to the stance of the APC, the Afenifere said: “Some forces that have benefited from the imbalance and inequity of decades would not fold their arms and watch Nigeria restructured into an entity that works for all its component units.
“This is why all manner of letters were posted to you with ‘impeachment’ calls. Expect more of that as the process moves on by those who want the National Dialogue aborted.
“Sir, Afenifere considers the national conference as the soul of a new Nigeria, and as such, much more important than anything in the polity, 2015 election inclusive.
“That is why we are strongly advising that the conference be concluded early so that the 2015 elections can be conducted on the basis of the new constitution.
Speaking on the issue, Yinka Odumakin reinforced the position of Afenifere, noting that, “for the first time, we have an opportunity to discuss Nigeria and to take far-reaching decisions on how to move this country forward.
“And we have seen what is happening in the polity, which is, because this fundamental change is about to take place in this country, the forces that have held this country by the jugular since 1956, they are congregating. All manners of letters are flying here and there, impeachment calls here and there, because they want to abort this national conference.
“We have assured the president that for as long as he remains focused to give us a proper national conference, Aferenifere will always support him. And he has assured us that this conference is more important to him than any other thing in the country today.
“And we appreciate the way, the spirit and the level at which he is thinking, which puts us on the same wave length. I want to emphasise that, for as long as he stays focused on the national conference agenda, the Yoruba nation, Afenifere will support him, because we believe that this is the most important thing at this stage to save Nigeria from disintegrating.
“Centrifugal forces are all over the place and we must make sure we make Nigeria in a way that works”.
Source: Daily Newswatch
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