- Says president’s divine emergence to free, empower Nigerians
From Laide Raheem, Abeokuta
A group, Northern Youth Leaders Forum (NYLF) has appealed to former President Olusegun Obasanjo to throw his weight behind the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in his efforts to recalibrate Nigeria for greatness.
NYLF, a forum formed in 1994 and has other 42 northern groups under its umbrella, said that the time had come for the former president to support President Tinubu, to liberate Nigerians from the grip of “senseless and wicked politicians, civil servants, traditional and religious rulers parading themselves as our leaders”.
The National President of the Forum, Eliot Afiyo, made this appeal while addressing newsmen in Abeokuta, the Ogun state capital, on Tuesday.
Afiyo, who disclosed that the NYFL took the decision to declare its support for the incumbent administration of President Tinubu, at a meeting in Kaduna last week, added that the Forum had rallied all its patrons and elders, especially former presidents, Heads of State, Military Chiefs, traditional and religious in the north, to throw their support behind Tinubu’s government.
He explained further that the NYFL had keenly observed the emergence of President Tinubu as a divine intervention by God to free and empower Nigerians as well as laying a true foundation based on patriotism for the overall development of the country, hence, the decision of the Forum to support his administration.
Afiyo added that the president’s actions and inactions both covertly and overtly within the first month of his administration had convinced the northern group that God would Tinubu to achieve His will and purpose in Nigeria.
He said that “judging from the president’s inaugural speech, the appointment of the Service Chiefs and para military heads, unification of the exchange rate of the foreign currencies against naira, coupled with his pronouncements and body language, every reasonable citizen of this country knows that at last, we shall laugh again”.
He, however, disclosed that the Forum had formerly written to former President Obasanjo, soliciting his support for the incumbent president.
“We consider and truly too, President Bola Tinubu as the King of Assyria that was sent by God to deliver His children from Babylonian slavery. Consequently, we sincerely and honestly call on our elders, especially our patrons, to sheathe their swords and support President Tinubu’s government to succeed.
“We want to let Nigerians know that President Tinubu is a child of necessity and his emergence as president is a working process of Divine Project. God allows Tinubu to be president for the purpose towards fulfilling the divine destiny of Nigeria and Nigerians. Tinubu may not necessarily be the Joshua that will take us to the Promised Land, but, definitely, he is the Moses that will mentor and set the pace for Joshua to take us to the Promised Land and there we shall be.
“To this end, we will like to state unequivocally that the entire Northern Youth Leaders Forum has unanimously decided to support this administration totally against our earlier standpoint and wait for the perfect will of God to be fulfilled,” Afiyo submitted.