Northern Youth Drag Obasanjo, IBB, Others Into Nigeria’s Problems

The Northern Youth Leaders Forum (NYLF) at the weekend called out former President Olusegun Obasanjo from retirement, asking him to urgently summon a meeting of those it called “Nigeria’s fathers” with a view to proffering solutions to the country’s woes.

Naija News reports that those who fall into this categorization by the forum include: Generals Ibrahim Babangida, Theophilus Danjuma, Abdulsalami Abubakar; Chief Ernest Shonekan among others.

National Chairman of NYLF, Comrade Elliot Afiyo, who addressed journalists in Abeokuta, Ogun State, shortly after his meeting with Obasanjo in his residence, identified banditry, kidnapping, corruption, poor economy, agitation for secession as part of the challenges bedevilling the country.

He submitted that it was high time “Nigeria’s fathers” met and proffered solutions to the challenges before it consumes the country.
He described Obasanjo as an “advanced citizen who believes in the cooperate existence of Nigeria.”

The NYLF Chairman disclosed that the
forum was part of the groups that supported President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015 but expressed concern that he has failed to meet the expectations of Nigerians.

“We were part of the groups that brought Buhari in 2015. We thought the Buhari that we know will change things, but we realised that we have made mistake and we have to correct it, that is why I came personally to see Baba Obasanjo and we have discussed, he has to also be involved.

“We want him to do two things. one, to summon the elders, the Nigerian fathers. They have to meet, discuss and intervene,” the NYLF Chairman said.

“Unfortunately, we fell into the trap of APC and we have given APC enough time to change, but there are no changes instead things are getting worse, so we believe PDP is the only party that can bail us out that is why I decided to come and see Baba,” he said.

Speaking on the agitation for power shift ahead of 2023 elections, the NYLF declared that the next president could come from any part of the country, provided that such candidate’s competence and capacity to address Nigeria’s challenges, is guaranteed.

Afiyo said “as it is now, we are not concern about power shift or power rotation, we are looking for somebody that can solve our problems. I want to beg Nigerians. The president can come from anywhere, the person that we are convinced that will solve our problems is who we need now”.