Leading socio-cultural organizations, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Afenifere, and the Pan-Niger Delta Forum, as well as #EndSARS protesters, have hit back at the Northern Nigeria Governors Forum for alleging that some anti-democracy forces wanted to hijack #EndSARS protest to overthrow President Muhammadu Buhari.

The National Publicity Secretary of Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin, said, the North is fixated on ruling Nigeria.

“The unity of Nigeria is negotiable and we must negotiate it to have a functioning country. If we continue this Arewa song, the country will collapse.

“#EndSARS was a revolt and not for regime change. It is only those fixated only on their ruling of Nigeria at all costs without a thought for its health that would only be talking of a regime in the midst of all we are going through.”

Condemning the northern leaders, the acting Secretary-General and National Publicity Secretary of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Prince Uche Achi-Okpaga, said that those trying to give #EndSARS protest against police brutality, extrajudicial killings, and extortion, ethnic and sentimental colorations would fail completely.

He said that restructuring of Nigeria had already begun, noting that the “#EndSARS brouhaha is just the icing on the cake.”

Achi-okpaga said, “Just like the world went digital those who remained analogous were swept off by the digital wave.

“Restructuring has begun in Nigeria already. The #EndSARS brouhaha is just the icing on the cake. Those who are now trying to give it ethnic and sentimental colorations will fail completely.

“The wave of restructuring will be tempestuous and all who stand on its way will be consumed. We just cannot thrive on a structure that has continued to move backward.”

On their part, the Middle Belt Forum rejected positions of the northern governors and traditional rulers on Nigeria’s unity and EndSARS protests saying they were on their own

The National President of the Middle Belt Forum, Dr Bitrus Porgu, in an interview with one of our correspondents, in Jos on Monday, noted that those who attended the meeting failed to acknowledge the need for a positive turnaround in the affairs of the country.

According to him, this shows that the northern governors and traditional rulers are together with the President in the mess going on in the country.

Describing the view of the northern governors and others as selfish, the National President of the Middle Belt Forum called on them to have a rethink in their assessment of the Nigerian situation and push for restructuring of the country.

Porgu said, “As far as we are concerned, their (Northern governors) views are for them. They do not represent our views because they are selfish. Are they saying that the current situation in Nigeria where nothing is working should continue? We have always said that bad governance, nepotism and other divisive tendencies brought by this administration must not continue. Anyone who is saying a different thing is simply on their own”

The Pan-Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, said the North sees itself as superior to others.

The spokesman for the Pan-Niger Delta Forum, Ken Robison, flayed the present arrangement. “whereby a section of the country seems to be superior to other parts of the country.

“The issues raised by the #EndSARS protesters are fundamental. In terms of police brutality, in terms of extortion and harassment of young people in the southern part of the country, and surprisingly and very, unfortunately, the northern region is saying that these activities of brutality and extortion and extrajudicial killings that were taking place in the southern part of the country were not so in the North. So that means we are not one country.

“That what happens in one part of the country does not happen in another part of the country. Why is it so? There are questions to be answered by the leadership of Nigeria, by the high command of the police and other security agencies. Why is there discrimination or disparity or imbalance as it were that while some persons are saying that experiences in some parts of the country are not so in other parts of the country?

“And a police unit that is being condemned in one part is being celebrated in another part. So already there are divisions. There are inequalities. There are disparities and Nigeria cannot continue like that. Nobody will continue to say that Nigeria is indivisible in an unbalanced, skewed, and lopsided structure.

“What we are insisting on is that Nigeria has to be restructured. And the reality is that if this country is not restructured, the country will restructure itself.”

Northern leaders lack understanding of issues – #EndSARS protesters

Commenting on the statement by the northern leaders, a member of the #EndSARS movement, Raphael Adebayo, said it showed that they had a shallow understanding of the issues being canvassed by the campaigners.

According to him, it is sad that the leaders fail to grasp the crux of the clamour by the youth despite the number of protesters brutalized and killed by security agents during the street rallies.

Adebayo noted, “This exposes their shallow understanding of the issues being canvassed by the #EndSARS. It also shows the quality of leaders we have in the country.

“After weeks of protests during which scores of protesters were violently killed by paid thugs and security agents, the best certain group of leaders can come up with is to say it was targeted at regime-change. Telling us that their only concern is about political spillover shows that they are not concerned about issues that #EndSARS protests are raising.”

The activist, who reiterated that the #EndSARS protesters were only interested in reform of the Nigeria Police, further said that regime change might happen if the government continued to turn a deaf ear to the demand of the people.

“Because they have done so badly, so wickedly, they should be worried this would eventually get to them asking them to leave power. For now, the #EndSARS protest is not about regime change but if the government wants it so, then it should be prepared because if this legitimate demand for justice continues to be ignored, Nigeria will see change and there would be no way out for this regime that has declared itself anti-people,” Adebayo stated.