Why Nigeria should not break, by Bolanle Awe

• Says kidnappings disturbing, pathetic, sad
• Yoruba anti-secessionist group protests against agitation

A renowned Historian, Prof. Bolanle Awe, yesterday, cautioned against breaking up the country, saying the country will not be respected in the comity of nations once broken.

The former Commissioner for Education in the Old Oyo State also lamented that kidnapping of school boys and girls and insecurity in the country is disturbing, pathetic and sad.

She said: “I would not like us to go our separate ways. I think it will be a pity because we are one of the largest countries in Africa. And we are very highly regarded and we have so much potentials.

“Once we go our separate ways, our power is minimised. We cannot have that power and gumption that we have as one large country. Even within the largeness, we have so many groups and each group has its own potentials. If we are able to bring all the potential together, we will see that we are really a large country and an impressive country.

“There is hardly anybody who will not be disturbed about what is going on in the country. It is a terrible thing, in the sense that we are losing lives, very precious lives. Many children are being lost, killed and kidnapped, especially in schools. I feel terrible that school boys and girls could be kidnapped, not only being kidnapped but in some cases killed.”

MEANWHILE, an anti-secessionist organisation, under the aegis of Yoruba Appraisal Forum (YAF), has rejected calls for break-up of the country by those championing the cause. It also dispatched letters of protest to Governor Kayode Fayemi, the Ekiti State Council of Traditional Rulers and security agencies.

The group’s National Co-ordinator, Adeshina Animashaun, who spoke during a protest held in Ado-Ekiti, yesterday, to condemn the agitation, lamented the spate of violence in the South-West and South-East in recent times leading to loss of lives and property.

Animashaun, while condemning the secessionist activities, said: “Nigeria should not go the way of Somalia. Somalia is no longer the same today because of war. I don’t want to even witness war throughout my lifetime because we knew what we lost in Yorubaland during the 2020 #EndSARS protests.”

“On our part as YAF members, we want to warn sternly that we won’t allow any group or individual to turn the South-West into a theatre of war. Our Yoruba brothers involved in this evil enterprise or plot to destabilise the Yoruba race should retrace their steps to avoid dire consequences.

“We recorded huge losses in the South-West during the #EndSARS protests in terms of burnt property worth trillions of naira, not to talk of valuable human lives destroyed due to the violence that followed the protests.

“The Federal Government, police and men of the Nigerian Army and other security agencies should take urgent steps to stop the Yoruba independence agitators and freedom fighters before they set the entire country ablaze.”

Animashaun, therefore, urged the Federal Government to display its political will by propelling the Department of State Services (DSS), military and the police to activate their machinery against these elements in the South-West before the situation escalates.