A member of national caucus of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Sam Nkire, has called on Nigerian leaders to choose peace and unity instead of ethnic and religious jingoism which may lead to war.

He made the call when he addressed an end-of-year event put together by a youth organisation, the Youth Initiative for Development in Abuja.

The APC stalwart said: “A situation where some leaders, including youth leaders, from either northern or southern Nigeria go on television to state the position of their regions on sensitive national issues portends danger for the future and must be discouraged.”

Nkire said young people should be more concerned about the future of the nation than the older generation.

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“Our leaders, including youth leaders must, at all times, choose peace and unity instead of ethnic and religious jingoism which ultimately lead to war and destruction.”

He said as members of the Nigerian brotherhood, “both leaders and followers should never use someone’s religion or tribe to determine how he or she is treated. We should accept each other as human beings and children of God, bound in one brotherhood.”

Nkire added that part of the many reasons there were agitations and divisions in the country, included the feeling of exclusion and marginalisation and, therefore, called on people in power not to ignore the cry of the poor, in order that the rich may have peace.

He also said time had come for leaders, at all levels, of the society, whether in the public and private sectors, to do more to reflect Nigeria’s diversity as a people, in both policy formulation and implementation.