Pan-Yoruba sociocultural organisation, Afenifere, has called on Nigerian governors to unite in defence of the national integrity of the country.
Afenifere also frowned at what it called “increasingly calculated manoeuvres by certain political elements intent on imperilling the cohesion of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and discrediting the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, both within and beyond our national borders.”
National Organising Secretary of Afenifere, Otunba Kole Omololu stated this in Akure, the Ondo State capital on Monday.
Omololu said, “These orchestrated campaigns, often cloaked in the rhetoric of democratic dissent, are rapidly transgressing the fine line between legitimate political opposition and a pernicious assault on the nation’s global reputation.”
While lamenting that some people have chosen international platforms to propagate narratives that cast Nigeria in an unflattering light, ostensibly under the guise of advocacy or reform, the organisation said the “growing proclivity for externalising domestic political grievances does little to advance our collective cause.”
Pointedly, Afenifere said the development undermines national pride and compromises Nigeria’s standing within the international community.
According to the organisation, “To besmirch one’s own country on foreign soil is neither sagacious nor patriotic.”
Afenifere added, “A recent example was the de-marketing of Nigeria and misrepresenting the country at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, on Thursday, April 24, 2025.
“it is, indeed, a grievous affront to the values that ought to underpin national aspiration.
“As a non-partisan yet nationally conscious organisation, Afenifere remains an unwavering custodian of the Nigerian Project.”
The organisation affirmed its steadfast belief in the unity, progress, and sovereign dignity of the country and noted that “it is wholly unacceptable when personal ambition and self-interest eclipse the sanctity of our shared identity and national image.”
Afenifere stated further, “In a challenges and strains on national cohesion, the burden of leadership must necessarily encompass the preservation of our homeland’s integrity.
“To remain tacit in the face of concerted calumny is tantamount to complicity. On this note, for His Excellency Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who spoke up in defence of the President and the nation, we say well done.
“Accordingly, we urge Nigeria’s political stewards, particularly at the sub-national level, to repudiate this creeping culture of acquiescent silence.
“We specifically call upon members of the Progressive Governors Forum and the South-West Governors Forum to rise to the occasion and speak with a unified and resolute voice.
“A principled and vigorous defence of Nigeria’s democratic institutions and international esteem is both apposite and imperative. Let no holder of public office allow transient political calculations to eclipse the primacy of national interest. The stakes are too significant, and posterity will not be kind to those who falter when the dignity of our Republic stands in jeopardy.”