Bianca Iboma
A former Nigerian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Dr. Christopher Kolade, and a group of eminent Nigerian statesmen have called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure the credibility of the elections starting today.
Kolade said they are concerned about the safety of Nigerians during the process.
“As a people, we must avert looming disaster and embraced peace, considering the state of the nation. If political ambition is based on nation building, then why the violent act, there is no point for violence. The nation is bleeding profusely, and approaching a frontier it has never seen before,” he said.
The group, including Chief Philip Asiodu, Mrs Folake Solanke, Ambassador George Obiozor, Prof. Akin Mabogunje, Pastor Shyngle Wigwe, Mr. Olumide Onabolu (Secretary) and Ladi Thompson (contact person), said as elders they could not sit back and watch things balloon out of control.
Addressing reporters in Lagos, Kolade, Asiodu and Wigwe, in a 717-word statement, entitled: “The Burden of the Elders 2019,” recalled the good and early days of Nigeria, and said the country could be rescued and made to work again according to the vision of the founding fathers.
“There is no point to disintegrate, those who want Nigeria to disintegrate have narrowed view and personal gains to the benefits of their immediate family,” they pointed out.
They urged the leading parties to embrace peace and emulate the second stanza of the National Anthem, which projects peace, unity, equity and justice.
According to them, the elders and stakeholders of the nation converged on Lagos to work towards promoting Nigeria’s unity ahead of the Saturday polls. Asiodu said there is the need for a transformational leader with a vision of continuity and one Nigeria to attain the desired unity.
He said the slide in moral standards and value of human worth in Nigeria may have started many decades ago but the plunge into corruption in recent years has been a heart breaking experience to the nation.
Also, Prof Anya Anya wondered how Nigerian youths can secure their future when the nation’s challenges have crippled most of their dreams and urged Nigerians not to be divided by tribe or religion but work for the future of the nation.