‘Breaking Up Nigeria Will Cause Many Wars’

Former presidential liaison officer, Tanko Yakasai, says breaking-up Nigeria would not solve the problems of its people.
The Kano State-born elder statesman said secession being clamoured for in some parts of the country would only lead to wars as a result of the various ethnic groups scattered in all the regions.
“Breaking-up Nigeria won’t solve our problems. With my experience in this country, the moment you break-up Nigeria, every region will resort to fighting one another,” Yankasai said in an interview.
“In the North, we don’t have one language. We have Hausa, Fulani, Kanuri, and so on. In the entire West, everybody is a Yoruba-speaking tribe from Oduduwa. I knew when Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Chief S.L. Akintola quarrelled in West then,” he added.
Asked on his take on the alleged 2023 presidential ambition of former Lagos Governor, Bola Tinubu, the prominent northern leader said the All Progressives Congress (APC) leader has the capacity to properly govern the country.
“I read about his ambition on the pages of newspapers, but I have never heard him say it. I will wait for him until he makes a declaration to that effect. But I can tell you, I made a public statement widely published that I believe two people in Nigeria – Tinubu and Alhaji Abubakar Atiku – will do something better, if either of them gets the chance to rule the country. I have seen what Tinubu did in Lagos. I believe in Atiku because Atiku has a programme. But let’s wait for them to declare their ambition,” he said.
Yankasai, who expressed concerns over renewed agitations for secession from parts of the South, described those behind the call as noisemakers.