Nigeria on the brink of collapse, Afenifere warns

Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, says the country has become ungovernable, warning that it is on the brink of collapse.

The group stated this at its monthly meeting held at the country home of its national leader Pa Reuben Fasoranti in Akure, the Ondo State capital.

It kicked against “the constructing a rail line and about N30 billion highway to connect with Fulanis in the Niger Republic with whom the Fulanis running Nigeria have a cultural kinship.”

A communiqué issued by the group’s National Publicity Secretary, Mr Yinka Odumakin, stated, ” The truth is that the country had virtually become ungovernable and unless we restructure and restore Nigeria to federalism, the country is on the brink of collapse and God should save us from the worst-case scenario.

“And nobody should take this country on any childish ride; we should just implement the report of the 2014 conference now.

“As Nigeria enters the worst recession in 33 years and the second in five years of Buhari, we are equally besieged by attendant poverty, hinged as well as insecurity worsening across the land with kidnappers, armed robbers and bandits on the prowl and government helpless and unable to govern effectively”.

On the # EndSARS protest, the group said that the “meeting reviewed the recent protests by young people against police brutality under the #ENDSARS movement and its unfortunate bloody resolution by the repressive Nigerian government.

“To start with #ENDSARS was a by-product of a unitary rule, which promotes single policing that does not allow policemen to relate with their culture and in the process violating people’s rights because of clash of culture in the way SARS profile young people whose culture they don’t understand as criminals because they wear some haircuts and by the way they dress.

“lt was the peak of bestiality to open live bullets on peaceful protesters singing the national anthem and holding the national flag as it happened at Lekki tollgate on 20/10/20.

“lt has become more disheartening that the Nigerian government continues to tell all untruths about the massacre in spite of the CNN revelations and the Lagos coroner advertising unidentified dead bodies dumped in its mortuaries from October 19 – 27, 2020.

“lt smacks of absolute lack of conscience for anybody to still be talking of ‘massacre without dead bodies’. We are not sure that the current investigation is capable of unravelling what happened in Lekki.

“For instance, we gathered that two sets of soldiers came to Lekki, one from Lagos and another from Abuja. “What mandate was given to each and by whom?

“We need to know why Lagos State governor was allegedly blocked from reaching the president first after changing the curfew time and after the massacre.

“We commend the UK Parliament for their bold debate on the malady in Nigeria and welcome their decision to recommend sanctions against top officials of a supposed democratic government in Nigeria behaving like a junta.

The group which condemned the opening of the border for Dangote and BUA, asked the government to open the borders now.

It also said, “The meeting condemned Buhari government’s attitude of a dog that breastfeeds its own puppies and kills other animals for lunch as per management of borders.

“We reject this apartheid policy and demand the reopening of Seme and other southern borders now.”

It also commented on the attack and destruction of the farm of the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation SGF, Chief Olu Falae, saying, “The meeting received the report of yet another provocative invasion of Chief Olu Falae farm a few days ago by Fulani herdsmen.

“We wonder if a group of Yoruba boys can go to the North and be harassing a northern equivalent of Chief Falae serially and war would not have been declared on Yoruba in the North now.”