Following the continued insecurity in the country, especially with the recent killing of Funke Olakunrin, the daughter of Reuben Fasoranti, leader of Afenifere, Second Republic lawmaker, Dr. Junaid Mohammed, has cautioned leaders in the South West to stop fanning the embers of war with their utterances. Dr. Mohammed specifically said if there was war in the country today, the Yoruba leaders would be the first to run away.
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He gave the statement in an interview with Independent Newspaper.
Recall that many Yoruba leaders, including the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi and the Aare Onakanfo of Yorubaland, Gani Adams, have criticised the spate of insecurity in the country.
The Ooni had warned that the South West zone would defend itself from marauding herdsmen if the security situation in the region was not tamed.
But Dr. Junaid Mohammed said the Yoruba leaders have not learnt any lesson from the Biafran war experience.
He said some of the Yoruba leaders are “noisemakers” who are calling for war but will be the first to flee the country if a war breaks out in the country.
According to him, “We have to be very careful and mind our utterances. It is easy to start a war but it is not easy to stop it,” he said.
“We all saw what happened during the Biafran war even though a lot of people who went through that experience have not learnt anything like some of the leaders of Afenifere. They have been making provocative statements in recent times.
“People’s lives are determined partly by their culture. These people are noisemakers and if there is war today, they will run away because most of them have houses outside the country. They make big, big noise but some of the real fighters who will fight until death don’t even talk about it.
“We shouldn’t allow these lousy people to lead us to war. War is not good. I want Nigerians to be careful because if the chips are down, these people will not be available to fight. They are calling for war, let the war start and we will see who will run first.”