Southwest Govs flay calls on Fulani residents to leave for north

Governors in the Southwest states on Friday reacted to a
statement credited to the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), asking
persons of Fulani extraction resident in Southern parts to return
to the north.

They described the claim as most unfortunate, divisive and
retrogressive.

A statement personally signed by the Forum’s Chairman and Ondo
state Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu said:” With no intention to
engage anyone, it is incumbent on us, as elected representatives of
our people in the South West Region of the country, to denounce
this divisive and retrogressive statement in the strongest terms
possible.

“The Southwest Governors viewed the report with palpable
trepidation and outrage, the sustained attempts to fan the ember of
discord, seizing every opportunity offered by the current security
challenge to undermine the unity and peaceful co-existence among
Nigerians.”

Akeredolu added: “It is appalling, to assert the least, that the
tragic incident, which claimed the life of Mrs. Funke Olakunrin,
the daughter of Pa Fasoranti, the leader of Afenifere, would be
used by certain persons to advance the cause of parochial and
prebendal politics.

“We intend to get to the root of the sad occurrence as we await
the findings of security agencies on the unfortunate incident.”

The chairman said the governors and the people of the South West
are working, assiduously, at the current security challenges with a
view to finding lasting solutions to curtail the nefarious
activities of undesirable elements bent on wrecking our collective
peace.

He said:” We are not unaware of the antics of certain elements,
who hope to garner political mileage from the contrived crises in
virtually all parts of the country.

“We are equally convinced that this confusion serves the narrow
interests of some persons.

“The country has a rich history; she has had to encounter
adversities in the course of her transition to nationhood.

“She has overcome them all. This distraction will also pass. We
look up to the security agencies to take cohesive steps to curtail
this major challenge of insecurity which engenders
hopelessness.

“We can only enjoin all citizens, on our part, to be patient and
continue to cooperate with them as they combat the festering
crises.

“We on our part have taken great strides with the hope that
great success will be achieved.

“We however note, with discomfiture, the unpatriotic acts of
some Nigerians, who will stop at nothing in their bid to undermine
the Federal Government.”

The forum reiterated the commitment of the Governors and the
people of the South West to the nationhood project, as they
continue to address the challenges, saying “we will promote, with
renewed vigour, all activities which encourage amity among our
people”.

The Southwest Governors called on all persons of Fulani
extraction and indeed all Nigerians from other parts of the
country, resident in the South West Region, to discountenance the
unpatriotic outburst of the Northern Elders Forum and other
self-serving organisations of opportunists.

The Forum welcomed all Nigerians, who have legitimate reasons to
be in the region, stressing the Governments and the people of the
South West would protect all persons regardless of their ethnic
and/or religious backgrounds.

It emphasised that only criminals would find the region not
hospitable.

NIS Boss Urges Security Spokespersons to Communicate
Always
The Controller General of the Nigerian Immigration Service,
Muhammad Babandede has tasked security spokesperson to always
communicate with the public not only when there is crisis.

Babandede made the charge when the management of the Centre for
Crisis Communication (CCC) paid him a courtesy visit in his
office.

Babandede stated that for the Nigerian Immigration,
communication is an integral part of its services. According to
him, NIS deals with the world and as such needs to communicate well
to the public.

CG NIS
with CCC Management

He disclosed that the Service take the issue of capacity
building in the areas of communication very seriously considering
that both its internal and external public are mostly elite. He
explained that as an organisation that performs both the law
enforcement agency and service facilitator, NIS takes the issue of
communication very seriously.

Appreciating the thoughtfulness of the CCC to focus on building
the capacity of information and public relations officers of
military, security, intelligence and response agencies in Nigeria,
he promised to partner the centre to enhance the capacity of
Immigration officers in the art of public communication.

Earlier in his remarks, the Executive Secretary of the Centre,
Air Commodore Yusuf Anas (Rtd), acknowledged the tremendous
achievements of the Immigration boss since assuming office.

According to him, these include the introduction of ingenious
initiatives that will aid Nigeria’s immigration challenges like the
newly introduced Immigration E-Registration, Visa-on-Arrival which
will enhance Nigeria’s ease of doing business and also
infrastructural developments aimed at repositioning the service for
effectiveness.

By PRNigeria