I think if the United States of America is truly a country that is built on fairness, and which also preaches democracy, then it is important its Secretary of State, Mr John Kerry, return to Nigeria to right the wrong he made when he visited the country two weeks ago and had audience with just a section of the country.
Already, Southern Nigerians are beginning to see the visit by Mr Kerry as one that qualifies them as insignificant in the country’s political set-up. How do we explain that Mr Kerry would come to Nigeria and met only with the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Abubakar Saad, and the 19 governors of the Northern states, when Nigeria has hundreds of traditional rulers, and 17 southern governors.
Northern problem is not only the problem we are facing in the country; Mr Kerry might have come to discuss about the Boko Haram issue, the Fulani herdsmen’s attacks on innocent victims, or even the plight of people displaced as a result of the Boko Haram insurgency, but we also have the militants’ attacks on oil infrastructures in the south, as well as kidnapping, baby factories, poverty, unemployment, among other challenges.
If the United States wants to be fair, it should, through its embassy, release what Mr Kerry came to discuss with the Northern section of the country. After that, the Secretary of State should make another visit to the country and meet with traditional rulers and governors in the south.
- Yemisi Soares,
Surulere, Lagos.