Acting
President Yemi Osinbajo has warned state governors against playing
politics with national security especially over the quit notice
given to the Igbo living in the 19 states of the north by a
coalition northern groups.
Osinbajo
reiterated that Nigeria's Constitution guaranteed all Nigerians to
live in any parts of the country without molestations, just as he
warned people talking carelessly in a way that would threaten the
unity of the country.
He
gave the warning when he met with the 36 governors at the Old
Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, further noted that
the Constitution guarantees freedom of expressions but he said that
it must be done in a decent way.
He
said, “There is a part of all of these agitations and statements
that are made that is fair and may well be considered as freedom of
expression. Clearly, we are all allowed to express our views and
there is a part of this that is expected in any healthy and robust
democracy, people arguing and disagreeing sometimes even silently.
“But
borderline has to be drawn and that is when conversations or
agitations degenerate into hateful rhetoric where the narratives
degenerate to pejorative name-calling, expressions of outright
prejudice and hatred.
“We
must sometimes ensure that even in the use of words, we are careful
essentially because the kinds of problems that we have seen, the
kinds of conflagration that we have seen all over the world even in
our own society…..the use of words. Some words can carry a lot of
weights and so important that responsible use of words, the
responsible expression of dissent is taken as priority.
“We
must not allow the careless use of words, the careless expressions
that may degenerate into conflicts and may degenerate into crisis.
“As
I said, our constitution guarantee freedom of expression and we are
a people who like to talk and we talk and we express ourselves very
loudly, we express ourselves in an agitated fashion in some cases
but it is important for us to recognize that it is those same words
that can cause conflagration, can cause alarm and can ultimately
lead to calamity
“We
must be careful with how we express ourselves. What we have seen in
recent times and this is what has brought a lot of the concern
because what have seen in recent times is that some of the languages
that have been used and some of the expressions have tended to
degenerate badly and I think that we must begin to speak up against
some of these things and ensure that we protect our democracy and
protect our nation from the kinds of rhetoric that may not just
divide us but ultimately result in a great deal of trouble.
“From
all of the consultations, we have all agreed on certain principles.
The first is that we have all agreed that Nigeria’s unity should
never be taken for granted and that no one wants to see us go done
the path of bloodshed or war.
“We
also agreed on the primacy of the Nigerian constitution, that 1999
constitution is the basis for our unity. It is the basis for the
legal contract that exists between all of us as citizens of this
country.
“The
constitution guarantees equality of all Nigerians before the law and
the freedom to live and work anywhere in the country in peace and
safety without any fear of discrimination or prejudice. That is the
guarantee of our constitution and that is the reason why the federal
government and state government must be committed to ensuring that
every Nigerian citizens lives and works wherever he pleases
peacefully and securely.
“Our
meetings were frank and open as I hope we will able to agree on most
of the critical issues that were discussed and in most cases changed
perceptions that may have been long embedded in their minds.
“We
also agreed that under no circumstances should we condone hateful
speeches and that government should take all steps necessary to
bring to book all those who preach violence, in particular the kind
of expressions of dissent that can cause violence.
“We
also agreed that we need to do more to engage our youth
productively, create some jobs,
multiply
the economic opportunities available.
“More
importantly we agreed on the need for leaders to speak out
forcefully to counter divisive speech or any kind of war mongering ,
we agreed that leaders at all levels speak out forcefully against
any kind of divisiveness or divisive speech.
“And
we expect that our political leaders will do so without waiting to
be prompted. All of those we spoke to felt that sometimes when
leaders do not speak up promptly it always results in degeneration
no matter what the problem may be.
“This
applied to both the statement made by the young people in the South
East as well as the youth in the Northern states. We discovered
there was a need for much greater resonance in the way that these
things are done and for the leaders to speak up more forcefully.
“We
believe that if the leaders do not speak up forcefully enough if for
any reason matters are allowed to degenerate, not only does
leadership lose their legitimacy, they run the risk of things going
completely out of control.
“He
commended the leaders from the North and South for their openness at
the consultations stating “that they were extremely responsible
even in their criticisms of what they felt were issues that should
have been better handled.
“I
think that their criticisms were fair and balanced. I must commend
them for their sense of responsibility and their leadership.”
The
Acting President further said, “Going back to some of what was
said, some of the issues that came up and I hope that we will
discuss in greater details are the issues around the herdsmen and
farmers crisis, especially the way that some of these have resulted
in flashpoint across the country.
“We
started those discussions during the consultations we had and I
believe that we will be able to deepen those discussions in our
meeting and possibly hold a more expanded meeting where we will be
to take a closer look at it.
“It
is absolutely important that we are able to make lasting and
satisfactory solutions to these problems. Of course the problems are
multidimensional but the states have a very important role to play
especially because they are in control of land in their territories.
“I
must say that I trust that all of us appreciate the need to show
greater unity of purpose and the determination to work together to
resolve various challenges that arise on a constant basis for the
benefit of all Nigerians regardless of party affiliations.
“We
must resist the temptation to play politics especially with matters
of security, but to reach for simplistic narratives that might be
originally expedient and satisfying but false, deceiving and
sometimes unhealthy to proper understanding of the issues.
“Sometimes
intensions are perceived on the account of the fact that they have
wrong
perception
about a particular thing. I think it is in our place to ensure that
we dig down the fact and ensure that people are given the fact and
ensure that we don't colour them with politics.”
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