ν Yoruba group congratulates President-elect
From Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
The pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has told President-Elect, Bola Tinubu, to prioritise restructuring of Nigeria into a truly federal state. This was contained in the congratulatory message of the organisation to the former governor of Lagos State. Afenifere described the victory of Tinubu as one that should further unify the country in view of the spread of his votes across the country.
The statement read in part: “Garnering substantial votes from five out of the country’s six geo-political zones demonstrates that the mandate given to Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu and his running mate, Senator Kashim Shettima is one meant to re-invent Nigeria as a truly federal yet united country. A country in which every section and every citizen would have a sense of belonging without regard to any other consideration such as religion, language spoken or where the person comes from and so on.
“Incidentally, the President-elect and his party, All Progressive Congress were reported to have set up committees to meet with co-contestants to assuage them on their losses at the election just as the President-elect called on co-contestants to let them work together.”
The statement then urged those who were not satisfied with the outcome of the election to seek established legal redress “to which they have every right. We should however allow peace to reign while the legal process is explored and even thereafter. This is our country, we should learn to be able to live together in a peaceful and harmonious society but one in which justice, fairness, equity and respect for the rule of law reign supreme.”
Afenifere observed that Tinubu would take the mantle of leadership at a time that the country was highly divided with mistrust at an all-high level.
“Thus, the president-elect should, immediately, on being sworn-in on May 29, embark on policies that will heal the deep wounds in the country, foster a sense of unity and love among Nigerians and work to ensure that security of lives and property is guaranteed, jobs are created for those seeking jobs especially youths, revamp education and get the country restructured so that each region would be in a position to deploy the creative potentials it has to the maximum.”