Nigeria At 61: Forget tribal sentiment, unite Nigerians, Olabode George tells Buhari

Former Deputy National Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olabode George, has charged President Muhammadu Buhari to use the opportunity of the country’s 61st Independence Anniversary to bring Nigerians together and forget about tribal affiliation.

George gave the charge on Thursday while speaking with newsmen shortly a praise worship at his office on Lugard Street, Ikoyi, Lagos, attended by party chieftains, among others, recalling that he was in the military with the president and urged him to use the same training of oneness that they had in the service to lead the country, now that he had the opportunity to go into democratic rule.

“He should forget about his tribe and see Nigerians as one,” he admonished.

The PDP chieftain, who is also the Atona Oodua of the Source, while noting that the 61st Independence Anniversary calls for no celebration, lamented the non-teaching of history in schools across the country, urging that it should be returned to the school curricula, even as he warned of long time consequences of abandoning its teaching.

This was just as he pointedly declared that there need for changes in the way things are done in the country, noting that the 1999 Constitution was not effective and, therefore, should be revisited again.

“We really need changes in the country. Every independence anniversary, we say we want to celebrate independence. What are we celebrating? Are we heading in the right direction?

“I don’t know why the Federal Government took a decision to scrap the teaching of history in schools. It is a fundamental error. God has blessed this nation with human resources, agricultural resources, mineral resources and we left everything and are still fighting tribal wars.

“If you don’t teach history, you are telling the younger generation that there is no need to look back. If you don’t look back to see the problems that you have now, how would you be able to avoid the same mistakes in future? They should go back to read what led to the collapse of the First Republic,” he said.

“The constitution that we are using is not effective and we have the opportunity to revisit it. We revisited it at the 2014 National Conference,” he added.

The Atona Oodua of the Source used the opportunity to call on the government and coordinators of the COVID-19 programme, especially as it relates to the issue of COVID-19 vaccination card to those who have taken the jab, and needed to travel out and into the country, to ensure that affected travellers were not subjected to unnecessary trauma at airports.

George made the call as he related his recent personal experience, together with his wife, at Frankfurt Airport.

“And a lot of Nigerians are suffering out there in relation to the issue of clearance with the vaccination card. My wife and I were stranded at the Frankfurt airport because the officials over there said that the Nigerian government insisted that wordings on the card must be in the English language.

“I want to appeal to whoever is in charge of the programme to do the needful and safe Nigerians from the pain. I was lucky that someone recognized my wife and we were able to get an interpreter in the German Language and be able to travel after wasting so many hours at the airport,” he said.

 

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