The All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday led the commendation of President Muhammadu Buhari’s broadcast after his arrival from medical vacation in London.
The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Senator Shehu Sani and others also have given kudos for the short speech.
APC National Chairman John Odigie-Oyegun told reporters that the President left no one in doubt that Nigeria’s unity was not negotiable and the fact that the government will not allow any threat to the lives of Nigerians through hate speeches.
Oyegun said: “The speech was solidly outstanding. You see, he is the President of this nation. He has been away all this while and agents of destabilisation have been very much at work because they thought that his absence created a gap and a weakness within the polity, which they tried to exploit.
“Mr President, in his wisdom, discerned that. The stability of this nation, the unity of this nation, the peace of this nation, the security of the ordinary Nigerian are the key issues at this material time. And he addressed them.
“He addressed them briefly; went straight to the core of the issues and left nobody in doubt that any Nigerian is entitled, as a matter of right, to live, work and operate in any part of this country.
“He made it very clear and left no one in doubt that yes, while people can discuss their issues, the National Assembly is there to handle such issues. But he drew one red line; that the only thing that is not on the table is the unity of the Nigerian nation, which is not up for negotiations.
“I pity those who thought he will come and start addressing each and every issue. He picked on the core issues in the nation and made his views crystal clear.
“The President did not insinuate in his speech that those clamouring for restructuring and the rest cannot discuss. You can discuss. The only issue that is out of bound is the unity of this nation.
“But that as the situation is today, legitimate institutions of state that can deal with any changes in the relativity within the nation is the National Assembly and the National Council of State. So the situation is so clear and very very unambiguous.”
Senator Sani (Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign and Local Debts), said the President spoke the mind of Nigerians who cherish the country’s unity, peace and collective progress, adding that “he spoke as a nationalist and he spoke my mind 100 per cent.
“He sent a clear message to terrorists, ethnic irredentists, secessionists and champions of sectionalism that this union is an indissoluble matrimony in all circumstances.
“The President’s speech was a lion’s roar meant to reaffirm and reinforce the unity of a nation showing signs of disintegration during his absence. The President’s speech was a lion’s roar reestablishing full control of a staggering clime heading to an engineered implosion during his absence,” Sani said.
“The President’s speech was a lion’s roar meant to wake up a slumbering nation dangerously forgetting the lessons of its history and the calling of its future. The President’s speech was a lion’s roar meant to extinguish the Soviet/Yugoslavia inferno stoking in our country.
“During the President absence, our hard-earned trophy of peace and plaque of unity were gathering dust and gradually being eaten by ants and bugs; the lion roared to clear them.
“Our dreams and vision for a better country can be achieved without the need to subscribe to disorder or surrender to it. The roaring lion may have disappointed ‘Biafranistas’ and ‘Restructunistas’ and ‘Evictionistas’ but it’s pleasing to ‘Nationalistas’.
The General Secretary of the National Union of Textile and Garment Workers of Nigeria, (NUTGWN), Comrade Issa Aremu, described the speech as truly presidential, timely and reassuring on the unity and indissolubility of Nigeria as a Federal Republic.
Aremu called on Nigerians to rise and defend the Constitution in the face of what he described as “forces of disunity, revisionism and sheer disintegration”, adding that President Buhari exhibited remarkable statesmanship by devoting his first appreciation speech to the vexed issue of Nigeria’s unity in reminding all Nigerians of the “obvious truism” that the motto of Nigeria as enshrined in the constitution is “Unity and Faith, Peace and Progress”.
The labour leader said other statesmen and women should emulate the President by “talking the right talk and working the talk” on Nigeria’s renaissance, rather than organising what he called “wasteful thanksgiving/solidarity visits of dubious value”.
“All Nigerians should not only decry hate speeches and hate conducts of forces of disunity but should also talk the language of unity and love as President Buhari has done,” he said.
To Aremu, it is reassuring that President Buhari categorically declared that “Nigeria’s unity is settled and not negotiable” as well as repeating the obvious that “every Nigerian has the right to live and pursue his business anywhere in Nigeria without let or hindrance”.
The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) described the speech as “truly presidential, timely and reassuring” on the unity and indissolubility of Nigeria as a federation.
In a statement, ACF National Publicity Secretary Alhaji Muhammad Ibrahim Biu said “his presidential broadcast is commendable and all-encompassing, especially on the unity and indivisibility of the country. ACF supports the position of the government on the issues of restructuring and the channels of addressing genuine grievances through the appropriate democratic institutions, such as the Legislature and Judiciary.
“On hate speeches and inflammatory remarks, now that government has taken a decisive action to arrest the situation, ACF appeals to all Nigerians to henceforth heed to the call for restrain and resort to peaceful means of ventilating their grievances.
“ACF further calls on governments at all levels to step up peace and confidence building in order to douse the current sociopolitical tensions,” the statement read.
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