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Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has listed three critical issues responsbile for Nigeria's divison that has probably never been experienced before.
The APC chieftain said that secession threats, inter-ethnic discontent and hate speech are the key issues that have plunged present day Nigeria into a division.
Abubakar, who made the observation at the 40th anniversary of the Federal Government College Okigwe, Imo State, weekend, noted that all tribes of the country needed one another to achieve desired goals.
“This celebration is coming at a critical time in our country’s history,” he said.
“All of you must be aware of the recent agitations from different parts of the country, with some groups threatening violence and, in some cases, secession. These agitations are the result of a number of factors which I will not bother going into at this time, although since you are all enlightened men and women, I have no doubt that you are well and fully aware of what they are.
“As a result of these various forces, the Nigeria of today appears more divided than it has ever been before. Our country is not at war in the sense of guns and bombs, but the level of inter-ethnic discontent, hatred, and hate speech is at an all-time high.
”Recently, Nigeria has been embroiled in secession calls particularly from the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, in the South-eastern part of the country.The secessionist movement which calls for an independent state of Biafra, a republic that existed for about three years during the Nigerian civil war, was in September designated a terrorist group by the Nigerian government.To quell the tension which has arisen from IPOB agitation and that of other groups, many Nigerians have called for restructuring of the political system”.
The former vice president, who was represented at the occasion by his media adviser, Paul Ibe, emphasised the need for unity among different ethnic groups rather than a restructuring of the country.“You know from personal experience that the Hausa man’s problem is not the Igbo man, that the Igbo man’s problem is not the Yoruba man, that the Yoruba man’s problem is not the Hausa man, etc
The APC chieftain said that secession threats, inter-ethnic discontent and hate speech are the key issues that have plunged present day Nigeria into a division.
Abubakar, who made the observation at the 40th anniversary of the Federal Government College Okigwe, Imo State, weekend, noted that all tribes of the country needed one another to achieve desired goals.
“This celebration is coming at a critical time in our country’s history,” he said.
“All of you must be aware of the recent agitations from different parts of the country, with some groups threatening violence and, in some cases, secession. These agitations are the result of a number of factors which I will not bother going into at this time, although since you are all enlightened men and women, I have no doubt that you are well and fully aware of what they are.
“As a result of these various forces, the Nigeria of today appears more divided than it has ever been before. Our country is not at war in the sense of guns and bombs, but the level of inter-ethnic discontent, hatred, and hate speech is at an all-time high.
”Recently, Nigeria has been embroiled in secession calls particularly from the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, in the South-eastern part of the country.The secessionist movement which calls for an independent state of Biafra, a republic that existed for about three years during the Nigerian civil war, was in September designated a terrorist group by the Nigerian government.To quell the tension which has arisen from IPOB agitation and that of other groups, many Nigerians have called for restructuring of the political system”.
The former vice president, who was represented at the occasion by his media adviser, Paul Ibe, emphasised the need for unity among different ethnic groups rather than a restructuring of the country.“You know from personal experience that the Hausa man’s problem is not the Igbo man, that the Igbo man’s problem is not the Yoruba man, that the Yoruba man’s problem is not the Hausa man, etc