The pan Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has described the victory of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the 2023 Presidential election as ‘one that should further unify Nigeria’ in view of the spread of his votes from across the country.
Afenifere’s position was contained in a congratulatory statement on the emergence of Tinubu as President-elect.
The statement was signed by the National Publicity Secretary of the organisation, Comrade Jare Ajayi.
“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.
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“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 etc”.
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 also observed that Tinubu would be taking the mantle of leadership at a time that the country was highly divided with mistrust at an all-high level.
Afenifere continued, “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 properties 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.”
The group stated that the potentials to have the country develop rapidly, welfare of the people rapidly improved and social vices curbed to the barest minimum, “lie in the in-coming administration hitting the ground running with sustainable welfarist programmes, ousting terrorism and banditry, putting an end to nepotism with round pegs in round holes, bringing down the hyper-inflation in the country by, for instance, making sure that fuels are available at very cheap prices, artificial bottlenecks in the financial sector resulting in cash crunch is removed and creating the atmosphere for all Nigerians to be able to realize their potentials wherever they are and without infringing on the rights of fellow Nigerians – especially the natives of a given area as is happening in some parts of the country presently”.
Ajayi who recalled Tinubu affirming that he has “the confidence, vision and capacity” to do the job and his promise to be ‘a fair leader’ who will charge the energies of Nigerians “to deliver a nation that we can be proud of” then urged him to live up to his words of building “a brighter and more productive society for today, tomorrow and for years to come” as contained in the acceptance speech he gave while receiving the Certificate of Return from the Returning Officer, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu.
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Mention was made of democratic background of the President-elect and his affiliation with Afenifere. He was then challenged to let all these reflect in the way he governs the country so that his promise to make Peace, Unity and Prosperity “be the cornerstones of the society we intend to build” come into fruition.
In conclusion, the pan Yoruba organisation spokesman submitted that lot is expected from the incoming Tinubu-led administration as was the case when President Muhammadu Buhari came on board in 2015. “It is hoped that Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu government will not disappoint Nigerians. Rather, it will govern in a manner that will make a citizens within a short time to be able to ‘speak with pride at being a Nigerian’ as he promised in his acceptance speech.
“We are confident that Tinubu has the capacity to accomplish these as he promised. We are hopeful that he will be able to harness the requisite political and sundry other wills to give us a true federal Nigeria where people are truly in control of their affairs” he concluded.
