OSAS EMMANUEL
Former president, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, regrets that Nigerian political discourse has been dominated by ethnicity, religious bigotry, hate speech and personal attacks.
He said there is no country that has made meaningful progress in the face of deep ethnic and religious division, as is being experienced in the country today.
Dr. Jonathan made this remark at the public presentation of the book, ‘Chronicles of the Rainbow’ at the launch of Solomon and Mary Lar Leadership Institute in Abuja.
As the nation is again embarking on another democratic expedition and the political temperature is already rising, the former president urged all critical stakeholders, candidates and voters, to embrace the principle of Chief Solomon Lar’s politics of “Inclusion, bridge-building, unity and accommodation.”
Extolling the virtue of the late Solomon Lar, he said Nigerian politicians should continue in the same political trajectory promoted by the likes of Chief Lar in the Second and Third Republics, for the country to be better of in terms of unity, peace and pace of development.
“Chief Lar offered love in the place of bitter and divisive politicking, built bridges to cement the cracks in our unity and showed courage in the face of injustice and military dictatorship.
“I always like to cite the fact that Chief Lar was the only Governor from the North who contested and won election under the platform of Nigerian Peoples Party (NPP), a party that had the South as its stronghold in the Second Republic. That alone epitomised his character and disposition as a bridge builder and advocate of national unity.
“The fact that he co-authored his own biography, which we are launching today with an Islamic cleric, being a Christian, speaks to the boundless nature of his broadmindedness, spirit of tolerance and religious understanding.
“Sadly, we are now playing the kind of politics that Chief Lar detested. Issues around ethnicity, religious bigotry, hate speech and personal attacks, rather than principles and policies affecting the lives of Nigerians, have continued to dominate political discourses around the country, as political parties begin their campaigns.
“There is no country that has made meaningful progress in the face of deep ethnic and religious division as is being experienced in our country today.
“I urge today’s politicians, who are seeking to occupy different elective offices across the nation, as well as leaders and promoters of the various political parties to learn from the likes of Chief Solomon Lar, who played politics of sacrifice and selflessness, in the interest of the people,” said Jonathan.
