Members of the Nigeria Ethnic Nationalities Youth Leaders Council (NENYLC) have called on President Muhammadu Buhari to put a stop to the killings and ravaging insecurity in the country.
The council which is made up of about 400 ethnic nationalities in Nigeria says it is tired of listening to rehearsed condolence messages from the government to victims.
It further urged the Nigerian government to be more proactive in dealing with the growing spate of insecurity in the country, adding that Nigerian youths cannot continue to witness such mindless killing of Nigerians in their numbers on a daily basis.
The President-General of NENYLC, Terry Obirh, spoke on behalf of the organisation during a press briefing on Thursday attended by its Secretary-General, Oladotun Hassan and Publicity Secretary, Emmanuel Zopmal.
He said, “Our stand is that the Federal Government needs to be more proactive in dealing with the growing spate of insecurity in the country as we cannot continue to witness such mindless killing of Nigerians in their numbers on a daily basis.
“The main essence and purpose of government is the protection of lives and properties but this appears to have been defeated in Nigeria. On a daily basis, Nigerians are being mowed down and roasted like chickens for no fault of theirs, except the fact that they are Nigerians.
“We say today that enough is enough and urge the security agencies to sit up. We have heard so many words without action from the government, we have had enough rehearsed condolence messages from the government, what we demand now is an end to the massacre of Nigerians under whatever guise.
“The council equally took notice of the pervasive corruption in Nigeria. We are concerned about the level of corruption in governance in Nigeria. This has to a large extent impeded development in the country, with resulting infrastructural decay across the country. The humongous annual budget of the country has not in any way translated to development.
“There are no commensurate development indices vis-à-vis the trillions of naira released every year as capital expenditure. The reason for this gap is not farfetched- it is buried in the graveyard of corruption.
“Worthy of mention is also our uncompromising position on the need for a united Nigeria, cautioned against inflammatory statements ahead of the 2023 general election.
“To this end, we urge politicians to put the interest of the country above self; they should see themselves as vehicles for national cohesion and not as agents of disunity. This is why we note with serious concern some unguarded utterances by political actors across the country, especially with regards to the 2023 general elections.”
