Octogenarian father of Oluwaleke, one of the three National Youth Service Corps members slain in the Jos riot, Mr. Josiah Akande, has said the incident poses a major threat to the touted unity of the country.
In a voice laden with emotions, he called on President Umaru Yar'Adua, traditional rulers and leaders of thought to re-examine the workability of the said unity.
The elder Akande spoke during a condolence visit to the family in Ibadan on Tuesday by the Director-General, NYSC, Brig.-Gen. Yusuf Bomoi, over the murder.
Oluwaleke, who graduated from the School of Engineering, The Polytechnic, Ibadan was among the over 300 victims of the Jos crisis that was ostensibly triggered by a dispute over the election into the Jos North Local Government.
Emphasising the need for the safety of the country's youths to be guaranteed wherever they found themselves, he stated that the country was doomed without them.
Akande said, "I leave all to God. How do we ensure the safety of all these young men endowed with good potential? We have to do something about it. There should never be any repetition of this kind of carnage; this kind of brutality.
"It does not paint Nigeria well in the outside world and within ourselves Nigerians. And we are calling ourselves one entity. Is this the way to ensure the one entity of Nigeria?
"Please deliver the message to Mr. President that we pray that his tenure will be peaceful. That he will have a successful tenure of office, but not this carnage and this kind of brutality.
"The soul of a man cannot be bought with money, you (Bomoi) said that before. As a parent, put yourself in my position, with my age. Think seriously about it. This kind of thing should never happen again in Nigeria.
"Our chiefs, our emirs and our Obas should sit down together and know exactly where they are going. If this kind of thing continues, I don't know what will be the fate of Nigeria."
Josiah, who is the elder brother of a politician, Chief Harry Akande, urged the DG to visit the All Nigeria Peoples Party stalwart and extend a similar condolence to him.
With Bomoi during the visit were the Oyo State Commissioner for Youths and Sports, Mr. Ayoola Makanjuola; NYSC State Coordinator, Mrs. Bosede Aderibigbe; and his Plateau State counterpart, Mr. Peter Atilola.
Describing the slain corps members as heroes, the DG said that the management of the service would immortalise them in due course.
He said, "The essence of the NYSC is to foster national unity. It is a sad thing that they have to die the way they died. We know that everybody will die one day, but in their own case, it is particularly painful.
"These were young men sent to Plateau State to serve the country. It is something those of us in the NYSC will never forget. We want to assure you that you are not alone in this thing. You are aware that the whole nation has been mourning their death.
"Those of us in the NYSC probably feel the pain of their death more than any other person, probably apart from you in the Akande family.
"This is because it is our moral and professional responsibilities to cater for the welfare of the corps members. I want to assure you that the management of the NYSC will do everything humanly possible to immortalise these distinguished corps members.
"For everybody that worships God and believes in God, one thing that is clear is that all of us will die one day. We believe that it was destined that they will die that day. The place and circumstance by which people will die is only known to God almighty.
"These were young men that were trained and properly brought up. What happened is beyond the imagination of all of us that are mortals. I want to appeal to you to take solace in the fact that they died as heroes."
Following the request by the family, Bomoi directed that the late Leke's younger brother, who was a corps member in Osun State, should be redeployed to Ibadan, especially because of the anguish of the parents over the murder of his elder brother.

oh yeah!!!! good lord so everyone is now seeing that unity is under threat coz 3 yoruba corpers were killed.wat about thousands of easterners killed since da bloody nation was created by britain. ooopppsss unity of nigeria is about the shedding of our blood. right? now that yorubas are getting it we should fear coz now there is no unity. oh i forgot na dem and fulani wey been holding nigeria together. bollocks .

All i can say to the man is GOOD MORNING!

udezue:

oh yeah!!!! good lord so everyone is now seeing that unity is under threat because 3 yoruba corpers were killed.what about thousands of easterners killed since da bloody nation was created by britain. ooopppsss unity of nigeria is about the shedding of our blood. right? now that yorubas are getting it we should fear because now there is no unity. oh i forgot na them and fulani wey been holding nigeria together. bollocks .

So please do your calculations, How many more Yorubas, Benins, Urhobo, Ijaws etc do you want to see dead before they say our unity is under threat.

deor03:

So please do your calculations, How many more Yorubas, Benins, Urhobo, Ijaws etc do you want to see dead before they say our unity is under threat.

I for one do not want to see more genocide on any tribe, but this is hypocrisy at it's peak if all these new crying people are just noticing how bad the unity of nigeria is cos three corpers from a particular tribe were slaughtered by the jihadists.

The truth remains that we have never for once have any unity talkless of being under threat.

Encomium:

The truth remains that we have never for once have any unity talkless of being under threat.

You can not be any better. Well written.

asha 80:

All i can say to the man is GOOD MORNING!

udezue:

oh yeah!!!! good lord so everyone is now seeing that unity is under threat because 3 yoruba corpers were killed.what about thousands of easterners killed since da bloody nation was created by britain. ooopppsss unity of nigeria is about the shedding of our blood. right? now that yorubas are getting it we should fear because now there is no unity. oh i forgot na them and fulani wey been holding nigeria together. bollocks .

nuzo:

I for one do not want to see more genocide on any tribe, but this is hypocrisy at it's peak if all these new crying people are just noticing how bad the unity of nigeria is because three corpers from a particular tribe were slaughtered by the jihadists.

may God forgive you all. even if the man talks gibberish sef none of you has the right to ridicule him like this. no no. not until you've had your child hacked down in cold blood, then you'll understand the magnitude of his pain.

Take a break if you cant read or know what to write.

@ziddy

Go and sit down.What about us that their brothers ,sisters,uncles,aunties and friends have been hacked to death since 1953 and complainig yet people will open their mouth to say what our people were doing there in the first instance.

asha 80:

@ziddy

Go and sit down.What about us that their brothers ,sisters,uncles,aunties and friends have been hacked to death since 1953 and complainig yet people will open their mouth to say what our people were doing there in the first instance.

am not getting your point here. have you lost a child, a sibling, close relatives etc to islamic/tribal violence up north?

@ nuzo

i've got nothing to say to u outside this small piece of advice: get a life

@ziddy

do you think i made that statement 4 fun

@ziddy

what that man is seeing today is what thousands of parents have seen for decades. this is what we've been saying all along and it keeps falling to deaf ears. of all tribes in nigeria, the igbos are the most ubiquitous. so they've experienced all this longest time such that we dont complain anymore. or perhaps we still do.

but the bad news is that, while i empathise with that man, the sad story will happen again to another man in the future. . and then another . . and another etc b/c we no get govt, nobody cares until it happens to them.

"In Germany, they came first for the Communists, and I did not speak up because I was not a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak up because I was not a Jew. Then they came for the trade-unionists, and I did not speak up because I was not a trade-unionist. Then they came for the Protestants, and I did not speak up because I was a Catholic. Then they came for me, and by that time, there was nobody left to speak up."

--Martin Niemoeller

nuzo:

"In Germany, they came first for the Communists, and I did not speak up because I was not a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak up because I was not a Jew. Then they came for the trade-unionists, and I did not speak up because I was not a trade-unionist. Then they came for the Protestants, and I did not speak up because I was a Catholic. Then they came for me, and by that time, there was nobody left to speak up."

--Martin Niemoeller

ZiddyZiddy should read this. When all these new criers saw Igbos, Efik people getting hacked to death all these years they simply said na Igbo abeg no be our problem but now everyone is crying fowl. UNITY THIS UNITY THAT. I STAND BY MY POSTS.

NIGERIANS WILL NEVER ADMIT THEIR FAULTS. THE REST OF YOU NON IGBOS SHOULD NOT BLAME HAUSA people FOR THE DEATHS BUT yourselves because WHEN U DID NOTHING BUT TURN THE OTHER WAY OR EVEN SUPPORTED THEM U SIMPLY EMBOLDENED THEM TO GO THIS FAR AND NOW THEY are THIRSTY FOR YOUR OWN BLOOD. WELCOME TO NIGERIA.

Its like raising a child. If u don't discipline him, he grow to not respect you.

what this tribalism and ethnic intolerance will cause in nigeria only GOD knows, if the next generation of nigerians can still utter these sort of comments then im speechless,we always find a way to trace the price of a loaf of bread to biafra,high petrol price its biafra,even the ibos killed in china im sure its yoruba and hausa planning it!!

an old man lost a child to sectarian or religious violence and he is making his own comments based on his experience and already our good internet revolutionaries have turned round to blame the man and then connected it to tribe, wonder when all these playing to the gallery and playing the victim card will stop so we ll address the real issue of nation building nation building, the jews and their present state comes to mind

in 14 or 5 i cant remember yorubas refused to go to the north and they were made to service in their state. i think it is time we do it again.