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IPOB Is Not A Big Issue For Buhari To Mention At UN, – Gov Akeredolu

Ondo State Governor, Akeredolu Rotimi
Ondo State Governor, Akeredolu Rotimi

Ondo state governor, Rotimi Akeredolu has said that President Muhammdu Buhari did not mention the issue of proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) and the crisis it generated in the Southeast in his speech at the United Nations General Assembly because it was not a big issue for such a gathering.
“IPOB agitation is not something you escalate to the level of the United Nations for now. It’s something that you can contain. It something that you can contain within what I will call our territorial jurisdiction.
“Why escalate it to the United Nations? That means, it’s like us wanting to bring what…I mean, they (United Nations) know of it. It’s not that they don’t know of it but it’s not an issue for now and it will never be an issue in Nigeria for me as a person.[myad]
Governor Akeredolu, who is part of the President’s delegation to the annual event, told news men in New York today, Wednesday that the President deliberately skipped the IPOB issue because he would not want to escalate the crisis to the level of the world body, saying that it is a local issue that could be contained by local means.
“But when you talk about crises, a number of security concerns in Nigeria, what is happening from Chad and its effect on Nigeria and other neighbouring countries, the president mentioned it in his speech.
“The president also mentioned about Boko Haram and the assistance we have received. He did say something about countries that have assisted us. He mentioned their names and thanked them.
“So, it’s not that our security issues were not addressed or other issues were not addressed like security, corruption, that is more tied to our funds that are outside.
“So, all those things have something to do with the country. If you are retrieving monies from all these western world, it has something to do with the country.”
Governor Akeredolu described President Buhari’s speech at the gathering of world leaders as wonderful, saying that the highlight was Buhari’s call for the setting up of a UN delegation to interface with the North Korean leader,  Kim Jong-un, over the escalating nuclear crisis between his country and the United States.
“I did listen to the address and it was a wonderful speech, not too long, not too short either. It was just enough to cover the subject matter.
“The highlight of Mr. president’s speech for me was his reference to the United Nations to set up a committee or a delegation to meet with the North Korean president and to find a solution to this threat of nuclear proliferation.
“That was a wonderful thing and I think that was the highlight of it.
“But Mr. President’s speech had quite a lot of pluses and when again the president said we should not forget old crises and now jump trying to find solutions to new ones and made a reference to what we have had over the years; resolutions on Israel and Palestinians, that if we leave all those ones and keep jumping to other ones, you will never get a solution. So, those are very important points, highlights in his speech.”[myad]