Babatope chides Yoruba secessionists, says agitation laughable

• Urges restructuring, Buhari to be fair to all tribes
• Adams writes UN, others over insecurity in S’West

A former Minister of Transportation and chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Ebenezer Babatope, has described the agitation for an independent Yoruba nation as laughable and extremism.

Babatope said he was not part of those calling for the emergence of an independent Yoruba nation, adding: “It is an extreme measure, which will not stand.

“We have passed that stage in Nigeria and anybody that thinks he can carry power on his head will destroy himself.

“What we should be fighting for is a Nigeria that guarantees fairness and freedom of expression, where all tribes will have equal rights and opportunities.”

The former Organising Secretary of the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) stated that restructuring is the act of redefining true federalism in the country that could give equal rights and freedom to all tribes in the country. He also charged President Muhammadu Buhari to be fair to all tribes in the country and be above partisan politics.

Babatope, who spoke on the current state of the nation while featuring on a weekly radio show, ‘Ayekooto on Radio’ anchored by Olayinka Agboola and broadcast live on Lagelu 96.7 FM, Felele, Ibadan, in Oyo State, further said: “Nobody is happy with the situation of things in the country because things have gone really bad, elections have been so badly organised and there is apparent problem with our security and nobody is safe in the country.”

Babatope, who was interviewed live via the telephone, equally charged Nigeria’s present crop of politicians to live above board and be accountable to those who voted them into power.

MEANWHILE, the Aare OnaKakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Adams, yesterday, raised the alarm on the protracted killings across the South West region of Nigeria, petitioning the international community to intervene to put an end to the killings and carnage in the region.

In a letter to the Secretary-General, United Nations (UN), the Chairperson of the African Union (AU), the Secretary of State, United States (U.S.), British Foreign Secretary, European Union (EU) member-states, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and others, and made available to The Guardian in Ibadan, Adams said: “This is to bring to your attention ‘a clear and present danger’ threatening the fragile union of our great country, Nigeria.

“Senseless killings and massacre of Nigerians, almost on a daily basis, are tragically sliding toward an anarchical terminal point.”

“The inability or apathetical attitude of the Federal Government, pitiably as it is, is already compounding an already gory situation.

“While you already know, through diplomatic sources and the media, what is going on in world’s most populous black nation, Nigeria, I want to urgently alert you that an agenda bordering on pogrom is gradually being executed in Yorubaland.”