Bode George to Makinde: Use current opportunity to heal old wounds

A former deputy national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party,  Chief Bode George has said that the affirmation by the Supreme Court of the election of the governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde calls for a show of statesmanship by him.

Reacting to the victory of the governor at the court, George in a statement made available to Saturday Tribune, said Makinde had the advantage of youth and chance to rise above primordial factors to unite the people, regardless of their political affiliations.

According to him, the governor must be a reconciliator and pacifier in the state. “Governor Makinde must rise above partisan divide and situate himself as the reconciliator, the balm that heals all wounds, the bond that rectify all disruptions and the pacifier that corrects all perceived ills,” George stated.

George, said the victory of Makinde at the Supreme Court had finally put to an end the legal tussle that lasted for almost an uncertain and interminable stretch.   “Let me state emphatically that this is not the time to gloat or engage in petty celebration. This is the time to withdraw into a statesmanship caution.

“It should be a time of reflection and sobering acknowledgement of our joint brotherhood. The feud is over. The acrimony of the recent past must now be flung away. Rancour, chest-beating triumphalism should be discarded.

“The pacesetter state should now look forward with keen and self assured vision. Everyone must come together with renewed zeal, with purposeful devotion and unifying determination.

“Governor Makinde must rise above partisan divide and situate himself as the reconciliator, the balm that heals all wounds, the bond that rectify all disruptions and the pacifier that corrects all perceived ills .

“Governor Makinde is a young man who is full of developmental ideas and forward looking clarity. He is resolved in selfless idealism and discerning leadership. He must remain resolute, stretching the hands of curative largeness across all the limits and bounds of Oyo state without a narrow restriction to partisan articulations.

“As he begins anew, I wish him happy sailing as he now steers the rudder of state free from all encumbrances, stripped of the riving jaundice of partisan withdrawal. Truly, the horizon is clear. The winds are fair. Good luck. And God’s speed,” George said.