South-South leaders of Urhobo extraction in Delta State yesterday held a crucial meeting with the apex northern socio-cultural organisation, the Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, in a lobby against President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election bid in 2015.
The meeting, which was initiated by the Urhobo Progressive Union, UPU, under the leadership of its President-General, Patrick Newton Aziza, was held to persuade the north to run for the presidency against their son, President Jonathan. In his address, Aziza said the ACF and UPU were never political strange bed fellows, urging ACF to mobilise northern people for positive political development in 2015.
Shortly after the opening remark, the meeting went into a close door session which lasted for almost two hours. Answering questions from reporters after the closed door session, leaders of the UPU Aziza said; “We came to see our brothers, we had good deliberations over what is happening in Nigeria.”
He continued: “The Arewas and Urhobos are not strange bed fellows. We share a long political history from the days of the struggle for political independence from the British to the days of the first republic and the post-military politics.
“We don’t want to bore you with the details of such political affinity and the historicisms, suffice it to say, however, that such political affinity was based on mutual respect and equity.
“We seek to re-ignite that long-standing relationship, keep it warm and energise it in our national political journey. ACF, in our mind share many other similarities with the UPU.
“Just like the UPU, the ACF is a major platform of convergence for the Arewa people and the veritable positive force for engagement of her people. It also provides an avenue for the ventilation of the views and idea of the Arewa people on critical national issues.
“It is this similarity of purpose and mission statement in our mind that has convoked this august gathering.” Speaking, ACF spokesman, Mr. Anthony Sani, who spoke on behalf of the forum, said that the problem of the country has been suspicion among ethnic groups, but it is a good thing that the Urhobos have come around.
Sani, however, said the coming of the Urhobos to the north will eliminate this suspicion more so that the ACF itself has began a national wide tour of ethnic groups for peaceful co existence.
SOURCE” NationMirror