Sanusi Goofed On Ethnic, Religious Groups – Afenifere, Ohanaeze

The pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere has faulted the call by the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi for the scrapping of ethnic and religious groups in the country.It said the nation’s political consciousness is deeply rooted in such bodies.
Also, Ohanaeze Ndigbo said Sanusi’s statement was irresponsible, and smacks of military pronouncement.
“Sanusi should understand that we are operating a civilian democracy and not in a military dispensation, and therefore, he or anybody else cannot stop socio-cultural organisations such as Ohanaeze, Afenifere and Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) from functioning,” the pan-Igbo group said yesterday.
Commenting on the issue on behalf of Afenifere, its chieftain, Chief Ayo Adebanjo,however advised that such groups should always exercise caution in their activities so as not to jeopardise the nation’s security and corporate existence.
To the Afenifere leader, the groups have been performing the moderating role as they have been useful tools in forging national peace and stability, saying their scrapping would take away the relics of the nation’s past being championed by them.
Adebanjo told LEADERSHIP SUNDAY that such groups predated the existence of the country, serving a vehicle for members belonging to them to give vent to their aspirations in the larger Nigerian society.
He said any move to ban the groups would amount to removing the identities of the various ethnic nationalities in the country, which he noted, would on the long-run be counterproductive for the country.