Layi Olanrewaju, Ilorin
Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed yesterday urged Nigerians to pray for peace and unity of the country.
The minister stated this in his country home of Oro, Irepodun local government area of Kwara State at this year’s Lai Mohammed Ramadan Lecture.
Alhaji Mohammed said the request was borne out of alleged plans by some people plotting to cause mayhem in the country.
According to him, “It is appropriate to use this occasion to call on all Nigerians to pray for our dear country, to pray for peace and unity. I make this request against the background of those who are daily plotting to exploit our national fault lines of religion and ethnicity, those who masquerade as democrats but can’t take electoral defeat, those who will not hesitate to collude with anti-democratic forces to fan the embers of violence in the country and those who have elevated their personal ambition over and above our survival as a nation.
“As you are aware, a few days ago we raised the alarm that either by themselves or via their proxies, the PDP and it’s presidential candidate are doing everything possible to sabotage the Buhari administration, generally overheat the polity and make Nigeria seemingly ungovernable. Of course you are aware of similar alarms that have been raised by the police, the military and the DSS.
“Since our intervention, pseudo and partisan analysts have teamed up with the spokesmen for the main opposition party and its presidential candidate to either exhibit their ignorance or to engage in red herring and name calling. We are neither distracted nor dissuaded.
“Our interventions are based on credible evidence, and no government with the kind of evidence that we have, of plans to subvert the power of the state, attack the nation’s economic live wire and generally unleash mayhem on the polity, will keep quiet.
“The security agencies are all alert to their responsibilities and will not sit by and allow anyone to reverse the gains of our democracy under any guise.
He urged Nigerians not to relent in praying for the country, especially in the run up to the May 29th inauguration of President Buhari,” he said.
Earlier, the guest lecturer, who is the Chief Imam of Olorunsogo Mosque, Ilorin, Alhaji Soliu Orire attributed the dismantling of the Saraki dynasty in the last elections by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to God and people’s doggedness.