THE Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has said ahead of the next month general election, the Federal Government would put in place necessary security and logistics to ensure free, fair and credible poll.
The Minister disclosed this on Monday at a National Stakeholders Dialogue for Peaceful and Violence Free 2019 General Election, organized by the National Orientation Agency (NOA).
Mohammed said recently, his Ministry and its agencies have embarked on campaign against fake new and hate speech, stressing that “the peace pact signed by all major candidates of the political parties towards a violence-free 2019 election is in furtherance of this”.
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“To this end, I wish to appeal to all dramatic personnel in this forthcoming election to preach to their supporters in words and in deeds, the dangers of violence and the gains of peaceful conduct before, during and after the election”.
The Minister who was represented by Mrs Comfort Ajiboye, therefore, said “I commend the National Orientation Agency for assiduously working to achieve a violent free election this year, on behalf of Mr President, I wish to assure you that all necessary security and logistic shall be put in place for a free and fair 2019 election.
“I am convinced that the quality and composition of the National stakeholder’s Committee is not only in-depth but far-reaching with members drawn from political, religious, security and other strategic stakeholders of the country”.
In his address, the Director General of NOA, Dr Garba Abari said Election periods in Nigeria is major characterised by anxiety due to reckless utterances from political actors and their followers.
“Election periods in Nigeria have come to be characterized with great anxiety, usually heightened by the reckless utterances and sometimes, action of some politicians and their followers.
“As patriots and lovers of our dear country Nigeria, we must realize that we have no other country like Nigeria. Therefore we have a duty to promote peace, enhance security, national unity and integration, using our diversity and our fault lines as a source of strength rather than a reason to commit violence”.
While identifying the youths as a tool for politicians to perpetrate evil and violence, Dr Abari called on parents, guardian and religious leaders to reverse this trend by engaging the youths and educate them on the importance to resist being used before violence.
“Our youth who are easily used by unscrupulous politicians as cannon fodder for the perpetration of violence must be called to order. This responsibility lies on parents, guardians, Religious Leaders, Opinion Moulders, Traditional Rulers and Youth Leaders across the country as we draw near to the commencement of the general elections.
“I want to use this platform to reiterate the imperative for national unity, brotherly love, tolerance of differing opinions and religions and let us be patriotic.
“It is indeed time for our youth across Nigeria to say no to greedy, selfish politicians who would want to tempt them with the lures of money and other material benefits to lead them to the destruction of lives and property, before, during and after the elections.
“We have noticed how some politicians are sowing the seeds of acrimony, tribal and religious discord because of desperation for political gains. I want to call on such politicians to embrace patriotism and love of nation. You cannot claim to love our country and yet be plotting chaos and destruction of lives and properties.
“We must all be reminded that elections come and go. Leaders come and go but Nigeria our beloved country remains permanent. We all need a peaceful and prosperous Nigeria for life to be meaningful and for our businesses and vocations to thrive. Democracy as a model of government is a beautiful concept that has succeeded in many countries because of the freedom of choice it offers to the citizen. Ours will not be different”.
To this end, the NOA boss said “the National Orientation Agency is today along with the National Stakeholders Committee on Peaceful General Elections, comprising high-level representation from various stakeholders in government and civil society, flagging off a nationwide campaign for peaceful elections.
“This campaign across Nigeria which will be implemented in the 774 Local Government the 36 States and Abuja will also feature six zonal sensitization sessions to be coordinated from Headquarters alongside the National Stakeholders Committee for peaceful general elections who are working closely with our officers at local government, state and national level.
“As part of this campaign for peaceful general elections, the National Orientation Agency is deploying peace-building programmes and peace messaging through jingles and flyers to sensitise the public on the need for collective commitment towards peaceful general elections”.
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