MASSOB, OPC, MEND, MBF, others not enemies of Nigeria ― Tunde Bakare

Senior Pastor of Latter Rain Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare, has said that socio-political and pressure groups in the country are not the enemies of Nigeria.

Bakare gave this revelation on Sunday during his State of the Nation broadcast which he delivered in his church at Akilo area of Lagos with the theme: “Unveiling the true enemies of Nigeria.”

He said since activities of the groups are for the public good and within the ambit of the law, they are not enemies of the country.

Bakare who is also Convener of Save Nigeria Group (SNG) listed some of the groups to include Movement for the Actualisation for the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG), Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Oodua People’s Congress (OPC), Arewa People’s Congress (APC), Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), the Middle Belt Forum (MBF), Egbesu Boys among others.

The address reads in part: “Furthermore, through the decades of our national existence, we have had agitations for self-determination from different tribes; we have seen the Movement for the Actualisation for the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB).

“We have seen the Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG) and Ohanaeze Ndigbo; we have seen the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) and Arewa People’s Congress (APC); we have seen the Egbesu Boys, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), the Middle Belt Forum (MBF), and a host of other sectional agitators.

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“As nationalists and patriots, the tendency is to describe sectional agitations as counterproductive to the nation-building imperative.

“In some cases, we have even gone ahead to proscribe some of these groups because of their methods, but sectional agitators, so long as their activities are for the public good and within the ambit of the law, are not enemies of our nation.

“They become threats to national stability only when they take to subversive tactics. Otherwise, those sectional groups calling for better representation in the context of true federalism, and for self-determination within the provisions of international law, are not the enemies of Nigeria.”

SEE full speech here.