‘Yoruba, Igbo can avert Nigeria’s disintegration’

A leader of Igbo in Lagos State, Dr Femi Ferguson, has said that Nigeria will not disintegrate, if Yoruba and Igbo unite.
He urged the leaders of the two ethnic groups to come up with suggestions on how to resoplve the security challenge confronting the country.
Ferguson attributed the problems of Nigeria to conflicting interests, urging the diverse tribes to settle their differences at the national conference. He told reporters in Lagos that, for Nigeria to survive
, Igbo and Yoruba leaders should cooperate with their Northern compatriots to salvage the country.
Ferguson said that Yoruba have been good to Igbos living in the Southwest, particularly Lagos, adding that their businesses are doing well due to conducive environment which the Yoruba, their hosts, provide for them.
The Igbo leader noted that Yoruba gave lands to the Igbos to settle and do businesses, recalling that, during the civil war, their abandoned property were protected in the Southwest.
He said, based on the age-long relationship, Igbos and Yorubas owe Nigeria a duty to save it from chaos, disintegration and imminent war.
Ferguson maintained that Igbo and Yoruba have what it takes to save the country from disintegrating. He stressed: “The American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has predicted that Nigeria would disintegrate in 2015. I am appealing to these two strong brothers to forget political rivalry and face the business of building this country to an enviable status. The national conference is a very good idea, but nothing meaningful would be achieved, if the Igbos and Yorubas fail to cooperate.
“Personally, I don’t know why this has become difficult because the Yoruba protected the Igbos in the defunct Western Region during the civil war. There is no record of massacre of Igbos during the civil war in Yorubaland and afterwards. After the war, the Yoruba still welcomed Igbos with open arms, gave them land to settle and start their businesses.”