Governors of the 19 Northern states on Tuesday came under fire from critics for countering the Southern governors’ resolve to rotate the 2023 presidency to the south region.
They explained that the declaration made by the Southern governors was informed by the perceived disability they suffer in their region and the desire to make every part of the country feel a sense of belonging so as to keep the country one.
In separate interviews with BusinessDay in Benin City, Osagie Obayuwana, national president, Committee for the Defence of Human Rights, and Tony Abolo, a communication expert, urged political office holders to identify and address the common challenges within the country as a whole instead of placing their loyalties to separate regions.
Obayuwana, a legal practitioner and former attorney-general and commissioner for justice in Edo State, said the area in dire need of salvation is the steady rise of poverty across the country and “We should be talking about the president that will take on the issue of poverty, illiteracy, and a president that will be committed to involving all hands on deck. I think that is what we need now.
“The quality of leadership required will be those who are concerned about these issues. They should be ashamed for allowing themselves to continue to have Nigerians pitted against themselves on the basis of south and north.
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“I condemn the decision. We should be talking about African unity not only Nigeria. You cannot have unity when you do not show empathy or understand the feelings of others,” he said.
Abolo, on his part, said “It is clear the north do not want to relieve their hands off power.
“They have only drawn the battle line, the hands are off the gloves, and soon, the ordinary people will rise up and ensure they get a good representative in 2023.
The Northern governors had last Monday rejected the demand made by their southern counterparts over the shift of power to the southern states of the country.
