Greed and graft, Nigeria’s national disease, must be fought to the ground as promised by President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, if the country is to regain dignity and make progress on all fronts.
Afenifere, the Yoruba socio-cultural group, reiterated the point at its meeting in Akure and urged Buhari to take the fight against corruption seriously, not a flash in the pan as done by his predecessors.
A communique issued at the end of the meeting, which was held at the residence of Afenifere leader, Reuben Fasoranti, warned that the crusade should not be selective because corruption is pervasive in Nigeria.
“In our view, devolution of power is the panacea for issues of corruption, generation of electricity, qualitative education, issues of security and other policies that will ensure a fair society,” it stressed.
Afenifere commended President Goodluck Jonathan for conceding defeat at the ballot box, describing it as a patriotic act that saved the country from conflict.
The group said it is aware of the misunderstanding of its support for Jonathan during the election, a position it explained it took in the overall interest of the Yoruba.
“For the avoidance of doubt, … Buhari himself would attest to our not being induced in supporting him in 2007. We were certainly not induced to support … Jonathan.
“Our decision was based on our age-long commitment to support a presidential candidate committed to restructuring Nigeria,” the communique clarified.
“Afenifere supported Buhari in 2007 when he agreed with Afenifere that he would restructure Nigeria; and Jonathan in 2015 because of his support for the national conference and devolution of power.”
The group pledged to continue to make representation to Buhari to implement the resolutions of the national conference, particularly on restructuring and reduction of recurrent expenditure.
It called on the Yoruba, irrespective of their political leaning, to pursue implementation of the report.
