National leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has warned political leaders against taking the perceived unity of the country for granted.
Tinubu specifically accused aides of President Goodluck Jonathan of making statements that could threaten democracy.
Speaking on Thursday at the public presentation of Lest I Forget: Memoirs of a Nigerian Career Diplomat by Ambassador Oladapo Fafowora at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Victoria Island, Lagos, Tinubu stated that by not taking the unity for granted, we will avoid taking measures or making comments that can threaten the country’s unity.
“Unfortunately, that has not been the case in recent times. Self-acclaimed friends and aides of the president have been making comments that are capable of putting the unity of our country in jeopardy,” he said.
“One says if President Goodluck Jonathan is not reelected in 2015, the tenuous peace now being enjoyed in the Niger Delta will not be guaranteed. Another builds on that, saying — with all the crudity in his being — that not only will there be violence in the Niger Delta, there will be no peace everywhere across the country. Let us remember that these two are not the only ones making threatening comments ahead of the 2015 elections.”
He noted that a “gregarious presidential aide” had earlier boasted that he would no longer bear his name if by 2014 the new political platform called the All Progressives Congress (APC) has not vanished into thin air — words he saw as threatening the country’s peaceful co-existence.
“And without mincing words, these statements must be seen for what they are: insensitive, inciting and incendiary. One must not forget to say such threats are utterly irresponsible and unjustifiable!”
He warned that words are like eggs, which when broken, cannot be gathered back. He also said that it had become very important for Nigerians not to keep quiet when the dead-enders unleash these kinds of words.
“We must not allow the ethnic militias to ruin our democracy or untie our unity. It is said that evil triumphs when good men do nothing. It is therefore incumbent on all our acknowledged good men to speak out against these ethnic jingoists, or those that the Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka will call lickspittle.
“To the best of my knowledge, President Goodluck Jonathan was elected by Nigerians of different ethnic groups. And no one single ethnic group, whether minority or majority, can single-handedly elect a president. No ethnic warlord or grovelling aide can single-handedly elect a president.”
He said those who framed the country’s constitution apparently had this kind of situation in mind when they said that for a candidate to be elected president, he must win not less than one-third of the votes cast at an election in each of at least two-thirds of all states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory. He noted that there is strength in unity, adding that this unity must therefore be guarded jealously.
Dignitaries at the event included Gen. Yakubu Gowon, former head of state and commander-in-chief, who chaired the event; Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Gbenga Ashiru; Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu; the Owa Obokun of Ijesaland, Oba (Dr.) Adekunle Aromolaran, and several politicians and friends of the author.
