The National Publicity Secretary of Afenifere, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, has warned that an attempt to go into 2015 general elections without restructuring Nigeria will lead to war.
Speaking to Saturday Mirror during an exclusive interview in Lagos, Odumakin, who is the spokesman of Save Nigeria Group (SNG) too, also tasked Nigerians to allow people who are ready to serve in public offices and not corrupt people and drug barons who he said had taken over politics.
His words: “We cannot have credible elections until we restructure Nigeria. That is why I look at the people who say that they are against the conference because they don’t trust the man organising the conference. My question is, are these people daft?You don’t trust a man to organise a national conference but you want to trust the election that he is going to organise, where he has direct interest. “If we go for election in 2015, the way we are without addressing this issue, we are going for war.
There won’t be any election; it is going to be war. It would be a contest of thugs against thugs and bombers against bombers. That is what we are going to have because the polity is not conducive for election as it is now.
We need to bring down the tension and restructure the country before going into any election. “The votes of the electorates cannot count under the present system.
We must break down this present structure and start real politics. We must build the structure and remove all the negative tendencies and dangerous characters, who are in charge of our politics now, so that we can enable people with pedigree, people of virtues, people who have characters, people with vision to come to leadership.
If we don’t do that we are wasting our time.” Stressing the need for convocation of a national conference before the 2015 general elections, Odumakin noted that: “Nigeria is falling apart now without us discussing it. It is not running away from discussion or sitting down that we would prevent the breaking of Nigeria. In fact, the best way for us to prevent the breaking of Nigeria is for us to sit down and agree. And if we want to disintegrate, let us do it peacefully.
If we agree that we can no longer live together, fine. Let us do it peacefully. But if we keep on this way, it is war that will disintegrate Nigeria. “So, let us go and sit down, talk and negotiate, not out of fear but in a free atmosphere. Let us discuss and debate all the issues; there should be no-go-area. We should talk about the unity of Nigeria.
Do we want to live together? We should ask every nationality. And if we say Yes; on what terms? So, not talking cannot prevent disintegration. It is talking that can prevent disintegration and we can understand ourselves better.”
Source: National Mirror
Speaking to Saturday Mirror during an exclusive interview in Lagos, Odumakin, who is the spokesman of Save Nigeria Group (SNG) too, also tasked Nigerians to allow people who are ready to serve in public offices and not corrupt people and drug barons who he said had taken over politics.
His words: “We cannot have credible elections until we restructure Nigeria. That is why I look at the people who say that they are against the conference because they don’t trust the man organising the conference. My question is, are these people daft?You don’t trust a man to organise a national conference but you want to trust the election that he is going to organise, where he has direct interest. “If we go for election in 2015, the way we are without addressing this issue, we are going for war.
There won’t be any election; it is going to be war. It would be a contest of thugs against thugs and bombers against bombers. That is what we are going to have because the polity is not conducive for election as it is now.
We need to bring down the tension and restructure the country before going into any election. “The votes of the electorates cannot count under the present system.
We must break down this present structure and start real politics. We must build the structure and remove all the negative tendencies and dangerous characters, who are in charge of our politics now, so that we can enable people with pedigree, people of virtues, people who have characters, people with vision to come to leadership.
If we don’t do that we are wasting our time.” Stressing the need for convocation of a national conference before the 2015 general elections, Odumakin noted that: “Nigeria is falling apart now without us discussing it. It is not running away from discussion or sitting down that we would prevent the breaking of Nigeria. In fact, the best way for us to prevent the breaking of Nigeria is for us to sit down and agree. And if we want to disintegrate, let us do it peacefully.
If we agree that we can no longer live together, fine. Let us do it peacefully. But if we keep on this way, it is war that will disintegrate Nigeria. “So, let us go and sit down, talk and negotiate, not out of fear but in a free atmosphere. Let us discuss and debate all the issues; there should be no-go-area. We should talk about the unity of Nigeria.
Do we want to live together? We should ask every nationality. And if we say Yes; on what terms? So, not talking cannot prevent disintegration. It is talking that can prevent disintegration and we can understand ourselves better.”
Source: National Mirror
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