The Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF) on Tuesday urged Nigerian youths not to allow themselves to be used as cannon-fodder for unpatriotic politicians masquerading as democrats.
AYCF’s National President, Alhaji Yerima Shettima, who made the plea in statement in Lagos, said that youths should not fall for any politically-motivated violence in the just-concluded Presidential and National Assembly Elections.
“Our attention has been drawn to a viral news in which otherwise elder statesmen are working hand-in-hand with politicians who are afraid of defeat in the 2023 elections to overheat the polity and eventually destabilise this nation.
“We are appalled by the level of incendiary comments, designed to deliberately ignite violence in the name of promoting free and fair elections.
“We have had enough of mindless killings in defence of personal interest of grabbing power by any politician through the back door.
“We don’t support any resort to sponsored violence and arson in this country, just because some politicians are trying to mislead our youth to assume their personal political interest amounts national interest.
“We wish to implore Nigerian youths never to allow themselves to be used as cannon-fodder for unpatriotic elements, who are masquerading as democrats,” Shettima said.
He said that the group was watching very closely, the activities of “agent provocateurs, operating from the shadows, with the sole aim of creating regional and religious sentimentalism”.
Shettima said that such activities were meant to lead to massive killings of innocent souls in the name of politics.
“Let anyone not be deceived by their strategy against national unity and cohesion, the two important pillars of peace and brotherhood in today’s Nigeria,” he said.
Shettima said that the group was taken aback by the letter of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, alleging compromise in the just concluded Presidential and National Assembly Elections.
“We call on all Nigerians of good conscience to intervene in the concerted efforts to promote national peace and stability, especially in this cooling-off period of general elections.
“We cannot afford to compromise on the ligaments binding us together in brotherhood and nationhood after 60 years of independence.
“The current democracy would not have been possible without the massive contribution of the youth.
“We will not fold our arms and watch selfish interests deployed in using the same youth to truncate democracy and destroy the flowering of our national ethos,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the national collation of Saturday’s Presidential and National Assembly Elections’ results is ongoing in the nation’s capital, Abuja
