Group to protect Southwest against violence, threats, vows to nullify protests plans
The Yoruba Youth Socio-cultural Association (YYSA) has pledged to safeguard the Southwest region and its cultural heritage against any external threats that might jeopardize peace, unity, and development in the area.
This commitment comes in response to planned protests against national hardship by certain groups scheduled for August.
In a statement issued on Friday in Ibadan, YYSA’s National President, Olalekan Hammed, and National Secretary, Olawale Ajao, affirmed that they had uncovered clandestine schemes by malicious elements to exploit the upcoming nationwide protests as an opportunity to commit nefarious acts.
The youths have reported intelligence suggesting intentions to set fire to major economic development infrastructures across the Southwest.
“We have uncovered some secret plans by unscrupulous elements to take advantage of the intending nationwide protest against hardship to perpetrate evils by setting ablaze all our major economic development facilities in Southwest.
“Besides that, they have as well mapped out some strategic areas to ensure that they navigate easily to palaces menacingly and burn them to ashes”, the youths alleged.
They also noted that local government secretariats were among the public properties targeted for destruction by these individuals.
“Moreover, it is our prerogative to defend Southwest region and heritage against all external forces that may be threat to peace, unity and development.
“For this reason, we hereby unequivocally declare that the scheduled mass protest has been put on hold in order to secure and protect Yoruba land from enemies of progress disguising as students and activists to put us into peril socially and economically”, they said.
However, the Yoruba group praised the President Bola Tinubu administration for upholding justice, thereby ensuring that all tiers of government can operate in accordance with the Nigerian constitution.
“They are as well known as the three levels of government through which legislative lists were shared as follows; exclusively legislative list, concurrent legislative list and residual list.
“Although, the state governments that constitutionally share some powers in the residual legislative list with local governments have dominated everything, while the constitutionally recognised third tier of government has become castrated”, the youths added.
The YYSA emphasized that true development begins at the grassroots level within local governments, where people are primarily engaged in activities such as farming, fishing, crafts, hunting, petty trading, and other essential endeavors.
“Essentially, agriculture products and food items are being transported to cities after successful harvest in rural areas under local administrations.’ they added.
It further explained that the issue of security can best be tackled at local level where suspicious persons can easily be identified.
