The Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo has revealed that manipulation of ethnoreligious sentiment that eventually boiled over was one of the root causes of the Nigeria Civil War of 1967 to 1970.
Speaking on Wednesday, Prof Osinbajo declared that such tragedy should never be repeated in the history of the country while calling for ‘hard work of providing and implementing a framework for fair, just and unifying dealings among our people.’
“We talk about the civil war but ignore the fact that it is the manipulation of ethnoreligious sentiment that eventually boiled over into that tragedy. The demons released by that bloody conflict among brothers are yet to be fully caged & we pay the price of that healing process.
This is not a chapter of our history that we should ever be allowed to repeat itself. We must also do the hard work of providing and implementing a framework for fair, just, and unifying dealings among our people.”
Condemning the divisiveness witnessed in the 2023 general elections, he reminded Nigerians of the catastrophic consequences of the political weaponization of prejudice in Rwanda which led to the genocide of over 1 million people.
“Elections by their very nature, tend to be divisive affairs. Partisan democratic competition compels us to align ourselves with camps that most reflect our ideals and aspirations.
Almost without fail in every election cycle, politicians overtly or covertly seek to persuade voters that voting for their particular party or candidate is the will of God and that voting for the opposing party is a violation of that divine will.
Long after an election is over, and long after the leading contenders have sheathed their swords, the rhetoric, the words, and the means used to compete have adverse long-term effects on society.
We have witnessed the catastrophic consequences of the political weaponization of prejudice in places such as Rwanda. No one would have believed that ethnic sentiments would be exploited to the extent that it led to a genocide where 1 million people died.”
The former adviser to the Attorney General of the Federation urged Nigerians to stop ethnic profiling, discrimination, and ethnic and sectional sentiments that are exploited during the election cycle which in turn, causes a lot of harm to the unity of the nation.
