Former Senate Leader, Senator Teslim Folarin, has thrown his weight
behind the call for the Federal Government to dialogue with the Islamic
fundamentalist sect, Boko-Haram, so long as the terrorist group comes
out to make their demands known to Nigerians.
Folarin stated this in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, while speaking
with journalists after the eight day fidau prayer for his brother, late
Alhaji Suleiman Aderemi Gbolagade Emiola.
The former senate leader, who expressed worry at the menace of the
terrorists group, said it is a new phenomenon, which nobody could have
thought of in the last 20 years and which now poses a new challenge to
the nation’s security agencies, making tackling it a herculean task.
He said there was no sacrifice too much to be made for peace to reign
in the country, hence his support for dialogue between the group and
the Federal Government, noting however that; “There is no way dialogue
can be held with a faceless group, let them come out and tell Nigerians
their grievances and demands”.
Speaking on the raging war of words between former governors, Dr.
Omololu Olunloyo and Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala, Folarin described it as
needless, stating however that he was not yet sure of the true position
of things concerning the political party membership status of Olunloyo.
His words: “I’m not sure that former governor Olunloyo had left the
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and I must see him first before I
conclude. If it is however true, I don’t see any sense in it and I don’t
see those claiming to have decamped as serious politicians, but those
looking for something to eat.”
He assured that the PDP in the state had realised the need for
members to close ranks ahead of the 2015 elections and everything was
being done in that direction, stating that the people of the state were
waiting for the party to bounce back.
Folarin continued: “What is on the lips of everybody in the state is
for us to come together and that is what we all are working towards. We
are aware of our responsibility to the people of the state and we cannot
afford to fail them. We have all realised this and we know we don’t
have a choice than to bury the hatchet and form a common front.”
The former senate leader attributed the alleged bickering within the
party to its democratic nature, describing it as a good development,
saying; “Ours is a party that gives room for every shade of opinion and
there is no way some members will not feel aggrieved, which is why we
always seem to be in crisis.
“Unfortunately to the people outside the fold, they don’t know that
it is part of our inner strength and in a way, we are deepening
democracy in the country. Ours is not a party where some people will sit
down somewhere and make decrees for members, we hold congress for
people to see and we don’t adopt candidates for elections like others,”
he said.
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