As the controversy on the Muslim-Muslim ticket adopted by the All Progressives Congress (APC), rages on, Cross River state governor, Ben Ayade has described those condemning the position of the party as religious and ethnic bigots.
Ayade, in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Research and Political Orientation, Ita Bassey and made available to ASHENEWS on Tuesday, also said that religious and ethnic bigotry are not only “as worse a crime as treason” but also inhuman.
According to Ayade, “issues of religious bigotry and ethnicity which have occupied public discourses of the 2023 elections are supposed to be pampered for the consequences of instability there can afford to throw up.
“It is therefore my considered view that to raise sentiments of religion and ethnicity in a country where our diversity has been the centrepoint of our unity and the basis of our strength is condemnable.”
The governor stressed that putting issues of religion and ethnicity on the front burner of the nation’s leadership calculus, could tear the nation’s soul apart.
“To put those issues in the front burner of the nation’s leadership calculus is to say the least, an affront on the collective destiny of most Nigerians which also has the potential of tearing apart the nation’s soul.
Read the statement below:
In the light of surging sentiments of ethnicity and religion which have occupied our political space especially in the build up to next year’s elections in the country, it is compelling to lend a word of caution against the backdrop of the attendant consequences the surge is likely to attract in the democratic process.
Guided by constitutional processes, our democracy has steadily moved on to depths unimaginable in the last few years after the military dispensation, and expectedly, its depth has been the contemplation of every lover of stable polity in Nigeria. Nigeria has had enough of instability, and issues of leadership are better handled with tact and diplomacy to ensure stability of the country.
Incidentally, issues of religious bigotry and ethnicity which have occupied public discourses of the 2023 elections are supposed to be pampered for the consequences of instability there can afford to throw up.
It’s therefore my considered view that to raise sentiments of religion and ethnicity in a country where our diversity has been the centrepoint of our unity and the basis of our strength is condemnable.
Much as the constitution of the country does not make provision for religious or ethnic considerations in the course of leadership, to put those issues in the front burner of the nation’s leadership calculus is to say the least, an affront on the collective destiny of most Nigerians which also has the potential of tearing apart the nation’s soul.
Religious leaders, leaders of thoughts, community leaders and traditional rulers, political leaders, among other stakeholders in the nation’s polity, have a duty to enforce the much needed unity, peace and stability of the country by advising their subjects to desist from tendencies that polarise the nation.
Religious and ethnic bigotry is as worse a crime as treason and is inhuman and condemnable in every sense of it.
Political parties have the discretion as offered by the constitution to the choices they make.
It is also important to understand that these choices are greeted by the strategic consideration to win elections and so much as these choices are within the parameters of the constitution, there are not subject to open condemnation whereby sentiments which go against our national conscience as whipped.
Where the choice of any party is found to be at variance with held belief or consideration any individual or persons, the ballot is the best option for such individual or group to express their angst.
May God salvage Nigeria from the jaws of Religious and Ethnic Bigots and help advance her democracy beyond leaps and bounds.
