Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, says separatist agitations pose some opportunities.
Gatekeepers News reports that Fashola says there are opportunities in the challenges that Nigeria is currently facing.
The Minister said this on Channels Television’s ‘Hard Copy’ programme aired on Friday night.
In the last year, agitations for secession in Southern Nigeria have soared as separatists complain of injustice and express dissatisfaction with lopsided appointments into top government positions, insecurity, a worsening economy, improper allocation of resources amongst the federating units, and many others.
In the South-East, Nnamdi Kanu leads the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) while Sunday Adeyemo aka Sunday Igboho who spearheads the Yoruba Nation agitation in South-West Nigeria.
However, President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration turned maddening heat on separatists this year as it clamped down on the two agitators and they are currently behind bars. Both separatists have been accused of terrorism and treasonable felony and are facing similar charges in court.
Socio-political groups including Afenifere and Ohanaeze Ndigbo as well as many other Nigerians have called for political solutions to resolve the crisis.
On Friday, Gatekeepers News reported that President Buhari told respected Igbo leaders who visited him in Aso Rock that he would consider their demand for the release of the IPOB leader – Nnamdi Kanu who is currently in the custody of the Department of State Services in the nation’s capital, Abuja.
Fashola when responding to whether he sees opportunities in separatism said, “I see opportunities in the challenges that we have as a country; there are always opportunities every time that we have a problem and that is why people tell you: ‘don’t waste a crisis’. There is one thing to have a crisis but the worst thing is to waste one.
“There are opportunities in every problem that we face and I am always positive in my outlook: how do I get better from this? A life without problem is not a life lived at all. A life lived is a life that confronts problem, solves them, learn from them.”
The two-term ex-governor of Lagos said, “There are opportunities there for a conversation around why those voices are now louder perhaps than they were 20 years ago.
“Those agitations are not unique to Nigeria; the Scottish wants a referendum and they want to leave if the opportunities provide them, so it’s not unique to us. These are human issues and how we engage with one another and to then ask a genuine question and we would always be better off together and to find out how to make that union stronger, better, and more fulfilling. That is an opportunity and it is a conversation I will like to have.”
