Boko Haram, 2015 election make SNC imperative – Afenifere

Pan-Yoruba group, Afenifere, has stressed the urgency of convening a Sovereign National Conference in the face of recent threats to the unity of the country by the Boko Haram sect and ambitious politicians.

In a communique issued after an emergency meeting in Akure on Friday, the group observed that the threats from the Boko Haram sect to end democracy in Nigeria and the heating of the polity by groups in Nigeria had put a strain on the nation’s fault lines.

Although the issue of the eligibility of President Goodluck Jonathan to run for the 2015 general elections did not come as a specific item on the agenda of the meeting which had the Chairman, Reuben Fosaranti; Chief Seinde Arogbofa; Ayo Adebanjo, Jimi Agbaje and many others in attendance, it noted that the constitution guaranteed the right of any person to seek elective position in Nigeria.

The communique, which was titled, ‘Nigeria in Crisis and the Way Forward’, read by its Publicity Secretary, Yinka Odumakin, said, “The meeting held in the midst of low intensity warfare, being waged against the Nigerian state by the dreaded Boko Haram, with casualty figures currently higher than what is recorded in wars across the world.

“In the last few days, the leader of the Boko Haram, who was said to have been dead, came out again with his message – a promise that Boko Haram would be ending democracy in Nigeria as soon as practicable.

“The tension in Nigeria has further been heightened by the divisions in political parties, some on dangerous fault lines or regional lines and the overheating of the polity by politicians, ahead of the 2015 elections.

“These are warning signals. There is no doubt that Nigeria today has reached a point where the ethnic nationalities must sit at a Sovereign National Conference to discuss the state of the union and how to forge ahead as a united country based on the spirit of true federalism.”

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