2015 won’t break up Nigeria – Jonathan

 

President Goodluck Jonathan
| credits: File copy

President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday said contrary to the predictions of those he described as doomsday prophets, the 2015 general elections would not break up the country.

The President the elections next year would rather strengthen the country and make it stands stronger.

Jonathan gave the assurance while declaring open a conference organised by the Interfaith Initiative For Peace, in Abuja.

The conference with the theme, “The imperative of interfaith understanding and cooperation for responsible politics” was co-initiated by the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III; and the Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, Cardinal John Onaiyekan.

The President said he was aware of some prophesies indicating that Nigeria would catch fire as a result of the aftermath of the 2015 general elections.

He said the predictions would not come to pass because his administration would continue to conduct transparent, free and fair elections.

He said, “Despite the fact that we have survived the civil war and continue to evolve as one nation with one destiny, we have among ourselves those who continue to define us and put it that we as Nigerians cannot live together.

“As the 2015 elections draw near, the doomsday sayers are out and predicting how Nigeria is going to catch fire next year. In the opinion of some so-called experts, our ethnic and religious differences are bound to boil over. They portray us doomed to fail.

“But I can say categorically that Nigeria will not disintegrate; we will not fail. We will surely get over our challenges and become even a stronger nation.

“If you spend a lot of time on the Internet, the social media, you will be tempted to think along the same line. In a country of over 170 million people, the opinion of very few is now being elevated above that of over 100 million Nigerians.”

He said he was surprised that some prominent politicians and labour leaders could be kicking against the Federal Government’s decision to beef-up security in states where elections were held recently.

He said their positions on the matter only confirmed the saying that human memories were short.

He wondered how Nigerians could easily forget the massacre that followed the 2011 general elections in states like Bauchi, Kano and Akwa Ibom among others.

The President said if his reason for deploying security operatives in states was to win governorship elections for the Peoples Democratic Party, the party would not have lost in Edo, Anambra, Ondo and Ekiti states.

He said, “They want to vote and want their vote to count, they don’t want to be molested, they don’t want ballot boxes to be hijacked by criminals. If they are convinced that the process is free, fair and credible, they have no reason to be angry. Nobody can fight against one man one vote, one woman, one vote and one youth, one vote.

“And government will make sure that Nigerians are not killed during and after elections. I’m surprised that some political parties are agitating that government should withdraw security during and after elections.

“What surprise me most is that even some labour leaders are agitating that government should not secure people during elections. And I wonder how short human memories are.

“We just finished 2011 elections and we are talking about three years ago or quite close to four years ago and we know what happened in Bauchi, about 10 youth corps members were slaughtered in that elections.”

He said no ambition of any politician was worth the blood of any Nigerian.

Responsible politics, according to him, is the politics of service.

He said, “How many of us can line up our children and kill them just because we want to be President? Can we use our children for sacrifice because we want to be governors? Why do we want other people’s children to die?

“Do we politicians think that we are created differently by the Almighty God? I think we are just privileged to hold the offices we are holding and we must know that, we must make sure that these incessant killings must stop.

“Responsible politics is the politics of service, anything short of these attributes makes politics a bad thing and destructive. We must continue to preach this message for people.”