Ife crisis: Gwadabe leads Arewa, Yoruba peace pact

The New Arewa Vision Initiative (NAVI) under the chairmanship of a former military governor of Niger State, Colonel Lawan Gwadabe (Rtd) has sent a delegation to the South-west to hold talks with stakeholders on how to restore trust and confidence among Yoruba and Hausa living in the area.

The delegation which arrived Osun State Tuesday, was received by the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi Ojaja 11.

In the address read on his behalf by Malam Abdul Hassan, Colonel Gwadabe said the board of NAVI carefully reviewed the longtime relationship between northerners and the people of Ile-Ife, spanning over a century of diplomatic and peaceful co-existence.

“This therefore cannot be allowed to be dented by the singular unfortunate incident of the 8th March 2017. We are here to reinforce our abiding faith in our friendship and solidarity with the good people of Ile-Ife. Our patrons asked that this commitment be resolute,” he said.

In his response, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi Ojaja II, thanked Gwadabe and other Northern elders for their efforts at dousing the tension and preventing the crisis from escalating while pledging to use every available means to ensure such incident never occurs again in future.

The Ooni who said that his palace was ensuring that the perpetrators were fished out and dealt with, assured all communities in Ife of adequate security.

Also the Adviser of the organization in Osun State, Nathanial Oke, suggested the formation of a peace mediation committee in Ife Kingdom, that would intervene in any misunderstanding between the Northern community and Yorubas.