President Muhammadu Buhari has been urged to rise above politicking, drop the garb of despotism and begin to address national challenges as a statesman.
This admonition came from the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) while reacting to the Monday nationwide broadcast of the president after his medical sojourn in the United Kingdom for 103 days.
Buhari, in his broadcast, had reiterated the old cliché that the indissolubility of Nigeria was settled and non-negotiable, threatening to ‘destroy’ terrorists and criminals causing upheaval in the country.
Factional leader, Frank Omare, on behalf of IYC, posited that the president should act as a statesman by giving room for opposing views and negotiations on how the nation could move forward instead of threats of destruction.
According to Omare, “The solution in the opinion of the IYC is to take practical steps towards addressing the causes of persistent agitations in the country rather than shutting the door of engagement that would lead to the resolution of the agitations.
“As we advised in our press statement published on Monday August 21, 2017 on the return of President Buhari, Mr. President must do away with politicking and rise up to the national challenges as a statesman.
“We strongly hold the view that threats of brute force would not quell the agitations.
“It is only a sincere and painstaking discussions that would solve the problems.
“This is because some of the agitations are genuine and need to be addressed.
“Therefore, we call on President Buhari to have a change of approach towards the resolution of the ongoing agitations and threats to national security by adopting constructive engagement to resolve the issues.”
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