Yoruba youths canvass southern defence minister

(FILES) In this file photo taken on June 12, 2019 Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari raises his fist during an inspection of honour guards on parade to mark Democracy Day in Abuja. - Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari will sign the landmark Africa Free Trade Agreement during the African Union meeting in Niger, his office said. "Nigeria will sign the #AfCFTA Agreement at the upcoming Extraordinary Summit of the African Union in Niamey, Niger," the presidency said in a Tweet late July 2, 2019. African leaders are meeting in Niamey this weekend. (Photo by PIUS UTOMI EKPEI / AFP)

The Yoruba Youth Socio-cultural Association (YYSA) Worldwide has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to appoint a southerner defense minister in his next cabinet.

The body made the call in a statement made available to The Guardian in Ibadan yesterday by its national president, Olalekan Hammed.

According to youth body, the alleged lopsided appointments that ruffled feathers in the past must be corrected.

He said: “No particular ethnic group should be left out when constituting those that will man the country’s security apparatus.

“The dominance of security positions by northerners in the last four years gave herdsmen the effrontery to terrorise everywhere with impunity.”

“In order not to curb the herders’ menace, President Buhari should consider a southerner for the position of defence minister and other appointments that have to do with security.”

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