A coalition comprising 42 Northern groups has called on former President Olusegun Obasanjo to summon a meeting of what it called “Nigeria’s fathers” over the insecurity and other challenges plaguing the nation.
The coalition, Northern Youth Leaders Forum (NYLF), stated this on Saturday in Abeokuta, Ogun State, after its leadership met the former president.
National Chairman of NYLF, Elliot Afiyo, who addressed the media, identified Nigeria’s fathers as Obasanjo, former Heads of State, General Ibrahim Babangida (rtd) and General Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd), former Head of Interim National Government (ING), Chief Ernest Shonekan, and former Minister of Defence, Lt.-Gen. Theophilus Danjuma (rtd).
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He identified banditry, kidnapping, corruption, poor economy, and agitation for secession as part of the challenges bedeviling the country.
Afiyo urged Obasanjo to intervene in the crises rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which it described as the only hope of Nigeria.
He identified the former president as an “advanced citizen who believes in the cooperate existence of Nigeria,” noting that he needed to team up with these other “patriotic Nigerians” to proffer solutions to the numerous challenges before it consumed the nation.
Afiyo said that NYLF supported the emergence of President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015 but has since been disappointed by his performance in office.
He stated that the Buhari-led APC government has not shown it has the political will to confront the challenges headlong.
The NYLF National Chairman reiterated that only the PDP can offer a credible alternative and better leadership to Nigerians.