President Muhammadu Buhari has given
assurance that his government will not succumb to threats to dismember the
country. In his Independent Day message to Nigerians, the President assured
that the promises he made to Nigerians during campaigns for the 2015 elections
are very well on course, despite the harsh economy.
“I am very disappointed that
responsible leaders of most of our communities do not warn their hot-headed
youths about what the country went through. Those who were there should tell
those who were not there, the consequences of such folly.
“At all events, proper dialogue and
any desired constitutional changes should take place in a rational manner, at
the National and State Assemblies. These are the proper and legal fora for
National debate, not some lop-sided, un-democratic body with pre-determined set
of objectives.
He said: “Recent calls on
re-structuring, quite proper in a legitimate debate, has let in highly
irresponsible groups to call for the dismemberment of the country. We cannot
and we will not allow such advocacy.
“As a young army officer, I took
part from the beginning to the end in our tragic civil war costing about 2m
lives, resulting in fearful destruction and untold suffering. Those who are
agitating for a re-run were not born by 1967 and have no idea of the horrendous
consequences of the civil conflict, which we went through.
“Government is keeping up the momentum of
dialogue with stakeholders in the Niger Delta to keep the peace. We intend to
address genuine grievances of the communities.
“Government is grateful to the
responsible leadership of those communities and will pursue lasting peace in
the Niger Delta.”
No comments:
Post a Comment