admin

The governor of Ondo State, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu, came under fire from the pan-Yoruba sociopolitical group Afenifere on Saturday for his remarks regarding the Yoruba Nation’s unrest.

The Yoruba Nation’s supporters, according to Akeredolu, the chairman of the Southern Governors’ Forum, are enemies of the state.

The announcement was made by Akeredolu on Friday in Akure, the state capital, at the launch of the emblem appeal to kick off the 2023 Armed Forces Remembrance Day Celebrations.

Sola Ebiseni, the Afenifere Secretary General, criticized Akeredolu’s stance on the local unrest in a statement, saying the governor was pandering to the crowd. The statement has the heading “Akeredolu: Between Equity and Opportunism.”

The statement read, “The statement credited to Governor Akeredolu of Ondo State at the launching of an emblem appeal to flag off the 2023 Armed Forces Remembrance Day, unfortunately, confirmed the scarcity of statesmanship in our clime particularly faced with the lust for political power.

“We have no problem with the governor playing to the gallery, as a glorified Chief Security Officer, urging that security forces clamp down on any person or group whose activities he interpreted as capable of disintegrating the Nigerian State because we are no less patriotic and committed to its continuing corporate existence.

“We are also in the same boat with him that ‘this country is very important to some of us’ and the recognition that agitation and protests are rights protected in a democratic society.

“Our worry, however, is that Akeredolu, even as the Chairman of the Southern Governors Forum, would not, in deference to that high pedestal, wean himself from petty politicking which sacrifices equity needed for national peace and cohesion in preference of crass opportunism. In short, his vituperation on that occasion was most disastrously bereft of statesmanship and national conciliation.”

The statement added, “Truth be told, there is no region of Nigeria where the elite including the ruling class in government has been able to determine the methods adopted by agitators or succeeded in checkmating the effects thereof.

“So, let Akeredolu not boast of any capacity to dictate the method adopted by the Yoruba agitators or seek to set the rest of Nigeria against his  Ndigbo colleagues or the entire South East in his unhidden separatist agenda of securing undue advantage for his party and region in the quest for the Nigerian President of Southern extraction.

“We state for the umpteenth time, that the true and real recipe for peace and continued corporate existence of Nigeria, is an arrangement that will guarantee regional equity and not an ‘emi lo kan’ philosophy in the mode of King Louis’s l’état c’est moi.

“Incidentally, those who fought the civil war truly shed their youthful blood and have seen all about Nigeria,  are now in the vanguard of the national movement not only for Southern but in the quest for the requisite equity are in the queue for the Nigerian President of South East extraction.

“There lies the solution to separatist agitations and not self-serving sanctimonious pontifications.”

There are fears that the issue of flight delays and cancellations bedeviling the aviation sector might not be over soon.

Delays are still being experienced in the country’s aviation sector despite the high cost of flight tickets, the security challenges in the country as well as increased economic activities have boosted passengers’ turnout at most airports in the country, even as new airlines are entering the sector and others opening more routes.

The Acting Managing Director of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, Engr. Mathew Pwajok, recently declared that insecurity, expansion in the economy, and the upsurge in political activities in the country account for the increase in demand for air travel.

It was gathered that the departure halls at major airports are now constantly filled with passengers arriving or preparing for departure ahead of the yuletide period.

But ahead of the festive season, the airlines said they anticipate increased passenger movement as more people are expected to arrive in the country while more domestic passengers would be recorded across major routes.

Checks by Daily Trust showed that most flights from December 20 to 23 are either fully booked or have only a few seats left, while the fares have also gone up.

Lagos-Enugu flight on Air Peace is sold for N100,000 for one way as against the N75,000 being the minimum price.

The Ibom Air flight to Port Harcourt costs N88,000 for Friday, December 23, as of the time of filing this report, while an Owerri flight ticket now costs more than N90,000 on most of airlines.

Amidst the rush in the yuletide booking by passengers, there are fears of flight disruption occasioned by the declining airport infrastructure, and the harmattan haze, among other factors.

Already, passengers across the airports are complaining about missing their flights or experiencing delays.

A passenger, Engr Epkema, travelling to Uyo, said, “I missed my flight because of the hold-up on my way to the airport, especially the few kilometers to the tollgate and between the tollgate and the terminal building area.

“I spent over 20 minutes between the tollgates coming to the terminal building. I had to alight from the vehicle to trek because it was faster trekking, but I wasn’t early enough, so I missed my flight.

“However, I’m happy because the flight left as scheduled. So it was my fault I missed the flight. As per the pressure, you can see a large crowd.

“Although at the Ibom Air counter, there was no delay, you can see the pressure at the other airlines’ counters. It is chaotic there with the crowd. I guess it is because of the season.”

Another passenger, Yasir Abubakar, also complained about having to spend too much time in the queue at the terminal of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.

“You will have to be here on time because the airport is really busy. This is the holiday season and a lot of people are traveling, so I can understand the pressure. I have a long queue in front of me now. But it’s moving gradually. It’s quite stressful.”

An Abuja-Uyo bound passenger, Miss Joy, lamented that her flight was shifted by Air Peace for one hour.

“Air Peace shifted my flight to Uyo by an hour and there was no message until I got to the airport to manage my flight. Imagine if I had a scheduled meeting, I would have missed it.”