I Am Distressed, My Father Was A Primary School Teacher – Makinde Laments

The governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde, has urged Nigerians not to politicise the recent kidnapping of students and teachers in Oriire Local Government Area of the state.

Naija News reports that the governor made the appeal during a peaceful protest led by the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the Trade Union Congress (TUC), and the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) at his office in Ibadan.

Makinde warned that this is not the time to cast blame on the governor of the state or President Bola Tinubu.

He urged Nigerians to come together and unite in the fight against insecurity.

“This is a time of national distress. It is not the time to trade blames. It is not the time to play politics. I am personally distressed. My own father was a primary school teacher. He actually taught at Awole Dada, less than 15 kilometres away from where this incident happened. My father was there in 1959 and 1960. If something like this had happened to him, maybe I wouldn’t even have been born,” he said.

The governor insisted that the tragedy should not become a platform for political finger-pointing, stressing that the challenge of insecurity requires a united response.

“This is not the time for us to say it is the President that should have handled this, or it is the Governor, or the local government. This is a time to pull together as one,” he said.