Skip to main content

Buhari says Nigeria’s break-up unthinkable, not possible

President Muhammadu Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari has reiterated the essence of the unity of Nigeria, urging those contemplating its break-up to have a rethink.

The President said this at a meeting with the Council of South-East Traditional Rulers at the State House, Abuja, on Thursday.

In a statement issued by Malam Garba Shehu, the President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, the President warned that the question of having another country out of Nigeria was misplaced.

“The question of having another country out of Nigeria is going to be very difficult.

“From 1914, we have more than 200 cultures living with one another. God had endowed this country with natural resources and talented people.

“We should concentrate on these and be very productive,” he said.

Addressing specific issues raised by the traditional rulers, the President assured that the South-East would also benefit from the new railway architecture being put in place by his administration.

On their request for more representation for the South-East in his government, Buhari said that he was “very conscious of the sensitivities of the South East”, on account of which, he gave the region’s four out of five states senior ranking ministers in the federal cabinet.

He appreciated the good work of the ministers from the region in the federal government, saying that “they are doing very well for the country”.

He appealed to the traditional rulers from the South East to persuade their people to give his government a chance and to continue to serve as beacons of culture and traditions of their people.

The president assured the delegation that kidnapping and cattle rustling, which he described as “unfortunate” would be the government’s next target “now that we have managed to calm down the North-East”.

In taking note of the profuse commendation for his administration’s war against corruption and insecurity by the traditional rulers, Buhari frowned at the endless nature of some ongoing trials, citing some of the cases as going far back to the tenure of former president Olusegun Obasanjo.

“We are asking the judiciary to clean itself. Nigerians are tired of waiting. They want some actions,” he said.

The president said he hoped that the Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria and Attorney-General of the Federation would come to “some form of agreement by which specially designated courts will give accelerated hearing to some corruption cases that are pending.

“We want Nigerians to know we are serious”.

Earlier in his address, the Chairman of the South East Council of Traditional Rulers, Dr Eberechi Dick, had made requests for roads and other projects, among other issues, even as he assured the President of their support for his leadership and programmes.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Court grants Fani-Kayode N50m bail

Fani-kayode sandwiched by EFCC officials Justice James Tsoho of the Federal High Court Abuja on Thursday granted a N50m bail to former spokesman of the Goodluck Jonathan Campaign Organisation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode. Fani-Kayode was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a five-count charge of money laundering to the tune of N26m. Fani-Kayode is the sole defendant in the fresh charges numbered, FHC/ABJ/CR/140/2016. The EFCC accused the defendant of diverting 26 million Naira allegedly received from the ONSA while Sambo Dasuki was in office. The anti-graft agency also accused him of handling the said N26 million without going through financial institution as required under the Money Laundering Act. The embattled former minister is already facing 17-count charge of money laundering before the Lagos Division of the court, along with a former Finance Minister; Nenadi Usman, Danjuma Yusuf and a firm; Joint Trust Dimension Nigeria Limited. They were charg...
Post a Comment
Read more

Pope not involved in Colombian peace deal- Vatican

Pope Francis Pope Francis has turned down a request to play a role in the peace deal between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebel group. The Vatican in a statement issued on Wednesday in in Vatican City said that an invitation was sent to his Holiness in early August to appoint a representative to participate in the committee that selected the judges for the talks. The statement said that though Pope Francis supported the peace process, he, however, reiterated that he would not get involved in Colombian peace deal. It said that Pope was praying for the enlightenment of the hearts and minds of those who were called to promote the common good of the Colombian nation. A deal was announced last week, putting an end to five decades of internal conflict between government forces and the FARC rebels. The agreement, which needed to be ratified through a referendum in Oct. 2, would entail setting up a special court to grant amnesties or pu...
Post a Comment
Read more

Man docked for defiling 9-year-old girl

magistrate-court A 33-year-old man, Godwin Otobo, was on Monday docked at a Surulere Chief Magistrates’ Court in Lagos.For allegedly defiling a nine-year-old girl, ‎Otobo, who lives at No. 10, Borrow Pit St., Sangotedo-Ajah area of Lagos, was said to have defiled the underage girl whose parents also reside in the same compound. The Prosecutor, Sgt. Anthonia Osayande, told the court that the accused committed the offence at about 9.00 p.m. sometimes in September. “The accused defiled the girl in the night when she was fetching water.‎ “The offence contravened Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011,’’ Osayande told the court. The accused pleaded not guilty to the one-count charge of defilement. Ruling on a bail application filed by the accused, Chief Magistrate Ipaye Nwachukwu, granted him bail in the sum of N500,000 with two sureties in like sum. She said one of the sureties must be a property owner in Lagos State, while the other must be a civil servant on grade...
Post a Comment
Read more