Adeniyi Olugbemi
Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State has urged Nigerians to avoid inflammatory remarks capable of causing disunity among the people.
Tambuwal spoke on Friday night against the backdrop of the ultimatum given to the Igbo by Arewa youths to leave the North, while hosting community members at an iftar session in Sokoto to break their Ramadan fast.
Addressing Igbo residents in the state, he said, “I align myself fully with the position of the northern governors, as enunciated by our chairman, Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno (State). All Nigerians must feel free to stay in any part of the country without fear of molestation.
“We have enjoyed a robust relationship with all members of the resident communities and you have no reason to fear. Sokoto is your home and it will continue to remain as such.
“I urge our youths to show restraint in making inflammatory remarks and threatening of one another. What we need now is to team up as a people to find lasting solutions to the myriad of challenges confronting us.
“We are a blessed nation and we should continue to develop our strengths so as to provide the needed leadership for Africa and the black world. So, as far as your stay is in the North and in Sokoto, do not feel threatened by anyone.”
In his remarks, a representative of the Igbo community in Sokoto, Mr. Steven Okoro, commended the state government for making all “Nigerians living in Sokoto feel at home.”
Okoro added, “We have never felt threatened in Sokoto. We and our families have stayed here in peace for hundreds of years and our relationship with all groups of people here is based on mutual trust and respect for one another.”
In the same vein, a leader of the Yoruba community in Sokoto, Abdulfatah Coker, and the Chairman of the Association of Resident Communities, Muhammad Ibrahim, said they would continue to support “constituted authorities” to deliver on their mandates and thanked Tambuwal for his open-door policy, which they said had enabled all citizens to gain unfettered access to him.
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