The former governors under the auspices of the Former Governors Forum have kicked against the calls for secession by some Nigerians.
The forum in a statement issued by its Chairman, Dr. Babangida Aliyu, the former governor of Niger state and Secretary, Prof. Tunde Esan, on Tuesday, called for calm and continuous national discourse towards finding solutions to the challenges facing the country.
The group, however, called on the federal government to deal decisively with the challenges facing the country.
“…That military intervention and a twin aberration: secession, will be a solution to our national malaise. That authoritarianism embodied by rulership by fiat and suspension of democracy will bring solutions to the challenges facing our nation. We state clearly that this is unacceptable, evil, and malicious.
“With due sense of responsibility, we consider this calls a red line. No matter how difficult our march is, our faith in democracy should never and must never be substituted by alternatives that challenge our survival as a country.
“Our historical antecedents as a nation embodies the painful struggle to bring about democratic governance in 1999. This struggle was not without blood , tears and toils. In addition, the fragile nature of our national cooperation and integration must not be ruptured by careless incitements.
“The evolutionary nature of nations, particularly our country, bound together in unity, peace and prosperity, must not be destroyed on the basis of non state actor’s whim and caprices.
“The forum calls for calm, continuous national discourse towards finding solutions to the challenges facing us as a nation. We equally call on the Federal government to rise up to its promise to deal decisively with the challenges facing our country.
“The Former Governors Forum will continue to engage the critical stakeholders towards the promotion of our core mantra and agenda: a platform for a prosperous and United Nation. Entrenching democracy in our country is central to this goal”, the group said.