Former Lagos State Governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has warned loyalists and aides of President Goodluck Jonathan against taking the unity of Nigeria for granted and heating up the polity by their comments.
The Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, national leader spoke as the guest of honour at the presentation of Lest I Forget: Memoirs of a Nigerian Career Diplomat, written by Amb Oladapo Fafowora.
He also reminded such persons that Jonathan was elected to office of President by the collective votes of different ethnic groups and not by anyone single ethnic group.
Tinubu was speaking on the backdrop of recent comments attributed to the President’s Special Adviser on Niger Delta Affairs, Mr. Kingsley Kuku, and Leader, Niger Delta Peoples Volunteers Force, Alhaji Mujaheed Dokubo-Asari, who warned of war if Jonathan is not allowed to complete a second term of four years.
However, the frontline opposition figure who was represented at the event by ACN National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said:
“It is said that evil triumphs when good men do nothing. It is therefore incumbent on all our acknowledged good men to speak out against these ethnic jingoists, or those that the Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka will call lickspittle.”
He added, “To the best of my knowledge, President Goodluck Jonathan was elected by Nigerians of different ethnic groups. And no one single ethnic group, whether minority or majority, can single-handedly elect a President. No ethnic warlord or groveling aide can single-handedly elect a President.
“There is strength in our unity. Let us guard it jealously. Let us work hard to keep our country united. Above all, let us not take our unity for granted.”
Tinubu described Fafowora as a committed patriot, who “left the service not in the best of circumstances”, noting that the book was “a rare enrichment of our essence as Nigerians, with our collective institutional memory”.
