TIMOTHY AGBOR, OSOGBO
A Yoruba leader and former Minister of Transportation in Nigeria, Ebenezer Babatope, has reacted to the agitation for Yoruba Nation by calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to correct the mistakes that are capable of plunging the nation into division.
According to Babatope, part of the “mistakes of the past” is that the Hausa-Fulani People believe that they will govern Nigeria for life.
In a telephone chat with our correspondent, the elder statesman said he did not support the break-up of the country as being championed by some Nigerians but that the Hausa and Fulani people should stop believing that they would rule the country perpetually.
He was quick to warn against dismissing or condemning Sunday Igboho on the agitation for a Yoruba Nation, adding that the issues the Yoruba activist raised should be addressed by the government.
The former minister said, “Nobody should dismiss the issues that have been raised by Sunday Igboho and other Yoruba people. When there was Biafra war, I was a university undergraduate; I was pro-Biafra and till today, I have never regretted being pro-Biafra.
“And I think Nigeria should be very careful because a situation whereby you have a Fulani man as president and his fellow Fulani are harassing everybody in the country is abnormal.
“I think we should address the issue but I don’t want Nigeria to break up. No, in terms of breaking up, but I want us to correct the mistakes of the past and ensure that we live in peace, harmony and unity with each other.”
He added, “There was once a time in the history of this country that the Hausa/Fulani believed that they had been endowed with power for life and they would govern Nigeria in perpetuity.
“It was a grave mistake and that was what caused Biafra to correct that but nobody got what Ojukwu was saying and Ojukwu was saying the correct thing at that time. So, let’s come together now and correct it.”
“Imagine, when we come together, we play football, we play cricket, we play as Nigerians and it’s beneficial like that. We can’t break the country up just like that. Don’t dismiss Sunday Igboho outright, listen to what he is saying and try to address the problems and issues raised,” Babatope charged the Buhari-led Federal Government.
