Ahead of the 2019 general elections, some elder statesmen have called on Nigerians especially those who are partisan to avoid falling into the temptation of trying to break up the country.
Speaking at a symposium and book launch on Nigeria’s third Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Dikko Yusufu, the elders said despite what was happening in the country, Nigerians must see themselves as one.
Those who spoke include pioneer Director-General of the Nigeria Intelligence Agency, NIA and Department State Security, DSS, Chief Albert Horsfall, a First Republic Federal Permanent Secretary, Ahmed Joda and a former Inspector-General of Police, Aliyu Attah and Chief Ayo Opadokun.
“Nigeria belongs to all of us and we must put our efforts together to make it great. Let me once again appeal to Nigerians that in spite of the politics and politicking going on, we must regard ourselves as one and we must not do anything to break this country,” Horsfall counselled.
Speaking on his relationship with the late IGP, Horsfall described MD Yusufu as one of the most detribalized Nigerians and he stood up to bad leaders whenever the need arose.
Joda, who chaired of the occasion, said “It was a tragedy to stop history in our schools. I hope that will not repeat itself, ” adding that the present generation has a lot to learn from the late icon like Yusufu whose mantra was humanity first and not ethnic or tribal affiliations.
Attah on his part recalled the marital relationship between his family and the Yusufus and added that the ex-police chief was one spy officer that discharged his mandate creditably when he headed the intelligence bureau.
“When M.D. Yusufu was there with us in Kaduna as the head of the special branch, there was nothing that happened that he didn’t know. In fact, it took him long to be able to convince the Sardauna that there was going to be a coup. How I wish we can continue in that tradition. That department is lacking today”, he added.
Also speaking, a chieftain of the pan-Yoruba group, Afenifere, Chief Ayo Opadokun regretted the dearth of men like Yusufu and expressed concerns as to whether Nigeria could ever rise above its present challenges without men that can speak truth to power.
