Former Head of State and Chairman National Peace Committee (NPC) General Abdulsalami Abubakar has warned that the embers of disunity, anarchy and disintegration were fast spreading across the country in the past two weeks.
He therefore called on state governors to sheathe their swords and take full responsibility for managing divergent voices and frustrations within their states.
Abdulsalami also appealed to citizens, whom he said, had borne so much pain and suffering, to remain resilient and patient, urging all to be united in these hard times, make sacrifices and remain vigilant.
The former military ruler sounded the warning Tuesday at a media parley in Minna, Niger state.
He said the growing tension in the country from unfortunate ethnic attacks, had made it imperative for his committee to add voice to the voices of millions of Nigerians calling for calm in these difficult times.
He said: “These times demand that we all join hands together to resolve our challenges so as to keep our country united. We do not have the luxury of trading blames.”
“In the last two weeks or so, tension is growing in the country and embers of disunity, anarchy and disintegration are spreading fast and if care is not taken this might lead us to point of no return,” Abdulsalami further warned.
While appreciating President Muhammadu Buhari for his efforts at exploring all measures and ensuring tensions were lowered, the former military leader however placed a wakeup call to the governors to take charge and restore orderliness.
“We appeal to the Governors, the chief security officers of the various states to please sheathe their swords, tone down their rhetoric and take full responsibility for managing the divergent voices and frustration within their states. It is true that we are all in a state of fear and collective anxiety. However the last thing we need is for the enemy to sense a lack of unity on our part or a break in our ranks,” he said.
He lamented that thousands of Nigerians were homeless and becoming refugees in their own country, adding “we know the difficulties that our farmers have faced in the last few years and that the harvest will be a serious challenge this year.”
The former military ruler also called on the new Service Chiefs and the Inspector General of Police, IGP, to rise up to the urgent demands of the moment by rallying their troops and designing the best strategy for ending the tragic war against insurgents and bandits, which he said, continued to consume and destroy the foundations of our dear country.
He said: “We hope that based on their field experiences in this war, they can draw up a well-coordinated programme to ensure that all our resources are deployed to achieve the much needed victory in this avoidable war.”
Abdulsalami appealed to traditional rulers, religious leaders as well as development associations to work towards mobilising Nigerians on the need to live in peace with one another.
Govs on Shasha
Meanwhile,Kebbi state Governor Abubakar Bagudu has said the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) was ready to support Oyo state Governor Seyi Makinde in restoring peace to Shasha market in Ibadan, rocked by bloody violence last week
The governor dropped this hint in Ibadan Tuesday while speaking to journalists during an on-the- spot assessment visit to the market by Governors Bagudu ; Abdulahi Ganduje of Kano state, Bello Matawalle of Zamfara; and Abubakar Sanni Bello of Niger state, with Governor Makinde as their guide.
Governor Bagudu said while an immediate undisclosed amount of financial assistance would be made to assist the victims greatly affected by the gravity of crisis, subsequent assistance to the victims would be made known after the issue had been tabled before his other colleagues in the NGF.
“The market has been closed down and there are many people whose livelihood are being affected. The Nigeria Governors’ Forum will also support him (Makinde) to ensure that those who have lost their livelihood are supported in this trying period”, he said.
The governor noted that investigations revealed that the leadership tussle between the Hausa and Yoruba traders at the Shasha market contributed greatly to the violence and the attendant destruction
He said the issue of a man pushing the wheelbarrow with tomatoes and eventually fell in front of a woman’s shop was secondary, stressing that the contentious issue of leadership on who heads the market association between the Hausa and Yoruba traders was the real reason for the squabble.
He said on their way to Shasha market, the governors called at Bodija market to see how different tribes were conducting their business transactions and that their cordial transactions had justified the oneness and unity between the Yoruba and other tribes residing in Ibadan and the entire state.
While commending Govrnor Makinde’s effort at ensuring that peace, oneness and togetherness were not taken for granted, the governors specifically praised him for nipping the crisis in the bud.
Addressing the traders, Governor Makinde said his colleagues from the North met with the Baale of Shasha as well as the Sarkin Shasha on ways out of the crisis.
“They, the northern governors just finished a meeting with the Seriki of Shasha and the Baale of Shasha. As a government, you trust and elected us into office, please trust our judgement to watch out for you and ensure that we co -exist peacefully.
“There is nothing we can do in an atmosphere of unrest and disharmony. Those who go to Iroko to continue trading, I will lock up the place. When you are all ready to cooperate, you will come to me. When you have agreed that there won’t be any more bloodshed here, you will come to me and then I will reopen the market. I beg you. We won’t lose any more lives,” Makinde further pleaded.
Buhari on cause of violence
But President Muhammadu Buhari has blamed the spate of violence across the country on people with resources and influence, vowing to deal with them.
A statement the president’s special adviser on media and publicity, Femi Adesina, quoted the president as speaking Tuesday while receiving a delegation of Borno/Yobe Elders Forum at the Presidential Villa Abuja.
In the statement titled “We need this country, we will continue to work for its stability, says President Buhari, ” the president said: “I am confident that we will eventually convince the small number of people with resource and influence that are a nuisance to this great country.
“God willing, we will identify them, and deal with them. I am extremely concerned about your constituency like the rest of the country.”
“We need this country. We will continue to work for its stability. I feel that whatever happens, we will continue to make it, and will keep on praying to God so that for those who feel that they don’t need Nigeria, we will succeed over their intentions and actions,” the president said.
To the many requests from his guests, the president said: “We are aware of the infrastructure deficit. Our priorities will be education because all our citizens know that children within a certain age must receive it otherwise if they miss it, the future is destroyed.”
