[size=14pt]Yoruba Unity Forum seeks N100b for Jos crisis victims[/size]

From Isa Abdulalami, Jos


Canvasses true federalism, national confab

THE Yoruba Unity Forum (YUF), comprising the Yoruba people residing in the 19 northern states of the federation, has called for the restructuring of the country to reflect ethnic and cultural groupings of the peoples.





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The Forum, which also canvassed a sovereign national conference in the country, also called on President Goodluck Jonathan and Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State to provide N100 billion as compensation to Yoruba people for the losses incurred and the suffering they went through in the course of multiple crisis in Jos.

At a crowded conference, Chairman YUF, Senator Suleiman Salawu, stated this yesterday after an inspection of the abode of Yoruba in Jos to examine the extent of losses suffered by them as a result of the ethno-religious crises in the state since 2001 till date.

He said: "The Yoruba in the state do not know the primary cause of these crises, yet they suffered losses in terms of lives and property. Hundreds of Yoruba men and women have lost their lives while property belonging to these innocent people in Plateau State worth over N100 billion were destroyed.

"On this note, we call on the Federal Government headed by Dr. Goodluck Jonathan and Plateau State government under Dr. Jonah Jang to release a total sum of N100 billion as compensation to Yoruba people to ameliorate the suffering and the untold hardship our people in a country that belongs to all of us."

Salawu said the country should return to the former regional structure so that "people agitating in the country to join their kith and kin as a result of states creation that severed them could once again come together."

He argued that the lumping together of people who were incompatible was also one of the remote reasons for several killings in the country.

Salawu said: "The immediate cause of these crises can be traced to a faction of Hausa/Fulani settlers and the indigenous population of Plateau, both capitalising and employing religious differences as excuse. The remote reasons can be fear of domination. However, these reasons are not enough to kill and maim each other every now and then.

"For the nation to have a permanent solution the Federal Government must as a matter of urgency, and immediately after the 2011 elections, convene a national sovereign/constitutional conference where efforts at re-structuring the federation will be addressed by all the federating ethnic groups in Nigeria. This will give everybody a sense of belonging in determining the future of Nigeria."

http://odili.net/news/source/2010/oct/15/2.html

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Yoruba Unity Forum Expresses Worry On The State Of Insecurity



By Olayinka Olukoya and Dare Adekanmbi


The Yoruba Unity Forum (YUF) on Thursday, rose from its general meeting, held at the Ikenne home of the Awolowos and expressed worry on the rising wave of kidnapping and assassinations in the country.

At the meeting, which lasted for three hours, the matriarch of the Awolowo dynasty , Chief (Mrs) HID Awolowo, again stressed the need for the Yoruba nation to unite, saying that failure to do so would make the race irrelevant in the scheme of things in the country.

Chief (Mrs) Awolowo, the convener of the meeting said, “If we have to look at what is going on in the country now, there is need for us as a nation to unite. We must unite to present a common front or else we will lose relevance in the country.

“It is to our own advantage and the benefit of our future generations to unite now. As I used to say, it is when we unite that we can fight a common cause. Individually, we can’t achieve anything, but collectively, we can move mountains’’.

She charged the Yoruba both home and in the diaspora to be vigilant and ready to defend the cause of the race at all times.

A communique signed by Senators Tony Adefuye and Femi Okunronmu, issued after the meeting, described the incident as unfortunate and also concluded that the incident had reached alarming proportions which must be addressed.

The forum asked the Federal Government to address these problems with a view to arresting the continued harassment of innocent Nigerians.

It said: ”The rising wave of kidnappings and assassinations in, the country, the forum believes, has reached alarming proportions.

“The forum calls on the Federal Government to address these problems and their causative factors with the view to arresting the continued harrasment of innocent Nigerians.”

The meeting also called on all the National and State Assemblies to ensure that they expedite actions on all their arrangements for the review of the Nigerian Constitution.



The forum argued that there would not be any meaningful future elections in the country without all sections of the electoral laws in Nigeria that are controversial being reviewed.

‘’There can be no free, open and fair elections in Nigeria under our constitution that had hitherto been controversial are reviewed urgently. In such a way that the people of Nigeria have trust and confidence in the ability of Nigeria’s political leaders to give the country electoral laws that can stand the test of time,” the forum contended.

The YUF stated that the review of the electoral laws must not blind all Nigerians to the equally urgent need to review all other sections of the constitution that continued to frustrate the realisaiton of good, cost-effective governance and true federalism.

The forum mandated the Peace and Conflict Resolution Committee to urgently look into the on-going conflict between Oyo and Osun states over the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomosho.

The retired Bishop of Methodist Church, Ilesa, Archibishop Ayo Ladigbolu, stressed the need for the Yoruba to unite for the good of the race.

Dignitaries at the meeting included Ogun State governor, Chief Gbenga Daniel; his Oyo State counterpart, Chief Adebayo Alao-Akala, who was represented by his deputy, Alhaji Taofeek Arapaja; representative of Osun State governor and Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Kazeem Adio; Ekiti State governor’s representative, Chief Abiodun Bamidele; Archbishop Ayo Ladigbolu; former Lagos State deputy governor, Mrs. Kofoworola Bucknor-Akerele; Chief Adegboye Onigbinde and Chief Ebenezer Babatope.

Others were former Lagos governor, Alhaji Lateef Jakande; Senator Femi Okurounmu; Senator Anthony Adefuye; Alhaji Suleiman Salawu; representatives of Ooni of Ife, the Salu of Edunabon, Oba Elijah Ojulade and Timi of Ede, Oba Nurudeen Adesola Lawal; Chief Tiwalade Sobo and representatives from Kwara and northern states