The paramount ruler of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo, has appealed to those advocating secession from the country like the Yoruba agitator, Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho to shelve the idea.
While Igboho has announced the secession of the Southwest from Nigeria, ex-Niger Delta militant, Dokubo Asari also recently announced the formation of Customary Government of Biafra in which he included territories in the South-east and South-south parts of the country.
But Gbadebo who is the Alake of Egbaland appealed to the secessionist agitators to shelve their swords warning that Nigeria must not be allowed to fail.
He spoke when the national leadership of the National Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) paid a courtesy visit to his palace in Ake, Abeokuta.
He asked Nigerians, irrespective of tribe, political or religious afflictions to work together for the overall development of the country.
“If Nigeria failed as a country, the entire black race had failed,’’ he said.
He noted that Nigeria could not afford to go through a crisis, saying that it was important to continue to love one another and live as one big family.
“Nigerians, wherever we go, we must see ourselves as nationals of the same country, people of the same blood.
“We must work together to make Nigeria, Nigeria must not fail; if Nigeria fails, the black race has failed and may it never happen.’’
Gbadebo commended the national president of the association for revolutionising the nation’s road transport sector.
Earlier in his address, Maitakobi said that the association had concluded plans to inject new buses into the nation’s road transport sector to aid the easy movement of passengers from one point to another.
He said that members of the association had been carrying out their activities in line with the rules and regulations of the country.
Maitakobi used the opportunity of the visit to announce the award of Grand Patron of the association to Oba Gbadebo.
He said the honour was in recognition of the royal father’s support for RTEAN.
The national president had earlier commissioned a multimillion naira mosque, built on the premises of the RTEAN secretariat in Abeokuta by the administration of the state chairman of the association, Alhaji Titilayo.
Maitakobi was accompanied to the palace by Akibu.