The presidential flag bearer of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi, on Saturday, urged Nigerians not to allow desperate politicians to continue to divide them along religious and ethnic lines, especially during the election period.
The former Anambra governor appealed after receiving the 2024 Courageous Citizen Award at an event organised in Abuja by the Nigerian-American Coalition for Justice and Democracy.
Obi, who was represented by his party’s governorship aspirant in Anambra, Valentine Ozigbo, emphasised that the massive turnout of voters at the 2023 general elections was proof that the people are tired of the Old Order and a new Nigeria is possible.
The national leader of LP also dismissed the speculation that made the round before and after the election that the Yoruba tribe hates people from the South-East.
He said, “It was a time Nigerians united and spoke with one voice regardless of tribe, tongue or religion. The 2023 election wasn’t a Christian or Igbo project.
He said, “It was a time Nigerians united and spoke with one voice regardless of tribe, tongue or religion. The 2023 election wasn’t a Christian or Igbo project.
It was a Nigerian project. I saw our legends and elder statesmen come together for the first time. I was glad to see people like former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Pa Ayo Adebanjo and others stand their ground.
“I am saying this to correct the impression that the Yoruba hate Igbo people. There is nothing like that. Too numerous people from different ethnicities thronged the pit to show their support. A lot of people made certain sacrifices because we just wanted to say ‘Enough is enough’ in Nigeria. Imagine those who had lost their lives for the cause of a new Nigeria.”
Obi, who was recently in the news over the purported merger between his party and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, said it is high time Nigerians stopped turning themselves into available tools for politicians to use.
In other categories of awards, former President Olusegun Obasanjo; a leader of the Pan Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, Pa Ayo Adebajo; Bishop of Sokoto Catholic Diocese, Rev. Matthew Kukah were given special recognition.
©Punch Newspaper