Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has enjoined Nigerian elites not to toy with prejudices that alienate or divide any section of the country in their quest for political power and leadership.
The Vice President who said this while delivering a lecture at the maiden Policy Making and Good Governance Series of the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, Plateau State, urged political leaders in the country to conduct themselves with a high sense of responsibility in order to build a new Nigeria where there is justice, equity and shared prosperity.
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Osinbajo noted that deliberate efforts must be taken to deal with ethnic profiling and prejudices before they influence political contests.
He condemned reported moves by some persons in parts of the country to deprive other citizens of their right to vote in the 2023 general election, saying that attempts to deny people the right to vote in any locality on the basis that they do not belong to that place is condemnable in the strongest possible terms.
The Vice President also noted that when ethnic or religious prejudices are weaponised for political purposes, Nigerians are confronted with a lethal potentially destructive situation.
On the way forward to building a stronger Nigeria, Osinbajo said that the most prosperous places are countries that have learned to harness diversity while building more inclusive institutions.
Professor Osinbajo urged Nigerians to learn from the Rwandan genocide which claimed about a million lives, saying Nigeria’s three-year civil war was fuelled by bigotry, exploitation of prejudice and incitement of hatred against ethnic communities.
(EDITOR: TIENABESO BIBIYE)
