2019: What Abdulsalami Abubakar Said About ‘Nigeria’s Disintegration’

Former Head of state , Gen . Abdulsalami Abubakar, on Friday said he will forever be an enemy of anyone that tried to hinder the democratic development of Nigeria or plunge Nigeria into crisis .

Abdulsalami said this at the Maiden Edition of General Abdulsalami Abubakar Foundation Peace Lecture , organised by the staff and students of the Abdulsalami Abubakar Post Graduate Students ’ Hall of the University of Ibadan. The lecture was titled ; “ Collaborative Peace Building in Nigeria , ”

He cautioned politicians against disrupting the 2019 general elections , saying “ we have no other place to run to should the country be engulfed by fire ” .

According to the former head of state , Nigeria cannot be that great nation we all want , except we all agree to collectively work together and collaborate on peace .

“Peace is not absence of disagreement . Every society must have disagreements . This is because we are not born alike, even twins do not operate in a like manner , ” hence there is nothing wrong with people having disagreements .
“ What is expected is that when we have disagreements we would find peaceful solutions to the issues , ” he said .

He said there can be no sustainable development where people find it difficult to deal with the problems around them peacefully .

“It is therefore , my honest opinion that we are going nowhere until we have a national consensus to work for peace .

“What our politicians should focus upon at a time like this is to be working with professionals on how to make a difference in 2019 . ”

The former head of state stressed the need for Nigerians to focus more on addressing the escalating development crisis in the land .

“No matter how good those managing INEC are , if things are not well managed as they are , it might be difficult for us to have credible elections in 2019 , ” he said .

He advised the students to reject being used in the forthcoming elections and not be allowed to be dragged into electoral malfeasance and violence .

He also appealed to politicians to be more conciliatory in their relationship and public utterances .

“INEC must be an unbiased umpire . The security agencies in the country must be fair to all , people must be free to vote their leaders ” .

The Vice Chancellor of the University , Prof Idowu Olayinka , praised the former head of state , adding “ it is very rare for a military head of state to say he has to grant the wishes of the people for a democratic government .

“This is the kind of things we need in Nigeria for our leaders to forge peace in the country , ” he haid .

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the University presented a peace award to Gen . Abdulsalami , while a cafeteria was built in his honour .

Some Dignitaries at the event included former minister of Petroleum , Tam David West , the GOC , 2 Division , Fidelis Azinta , former Executive Secretary , TETFund Prof . Suleiman Bogoro and the state governor , Abiola Ajimobi .

( NAN )