A former Presidential Candidate and Chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, has declared that he is irrevocably committed to repairing the damaged bridges of National Unity occasioned by the manipulation of Nigeria’s ethnic religious fault lines by desperate and failed politicians who use divisive strategies such as zoning and other extra constitutional measures to hold the Nation’s polity to ransom.
This was the summary of the opinion of Dr. Hashim at an interaction with senior media executives in Lagos at the weekend.
According to him, “despite the fact that Nigeria’s electorates have demonstrated over and over again that they careless about where a leader comes from, a new tribe of political opportunists continue to distract the nation and the polity from clear issues of economic development and security which is the urgent concern of most Nigerians whether they are Northerners or Southerners.”
At the end of the NEC meeting of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Abuja early this week, the party zoned the 2027 Presidential ticket to the Southern part of the country, an act that has sparked wide condemnation among party members especially from the North. Many have called the decision retrogressive and against the Constitution and capable of pitching the North against the South.
According to Dr. Hashim, “we on our part shall continue to rally the Nation around issues that unite us rather than issues that divide us.
“Commitment to National Unity was what defined the politics of the Founding Fathers of our Nation. That was why Dr Herbert Macaulay, a Yoruba man could hand over NCNC to Dr Nnamdi Azikwe, a Nigerian of Igbo descent. That was why chief Obafemi Awolowo could rally support for Ernest Ikoli an Ijaw man in Lagos during the Western regional election as against the aspiration of a fellow ijebu man, Sam Akinsanya for the presidency of the Nigerian Youth Movement/Lagos Legislative Council.”
He added that “it was the same spirit of Commitment to National Unity that was demonstrated when the legendary Joseph Tarka, the political leader of the Tiv nation, rallied behind Kashim Ibrahim a Kanuri muslim man to win the Gboko constituency, a Christian Tiv dominated constituency during Northern regional election in first Republic.”
In recent memory, he continued, “the great people of Kano voted massively for Chief MKO Abiola against a bonafide and accomplished indigene of Kano, Alhaji Bashir Tofa in the June 12 1993 Presidential elections.”
He also emphasised that “we draw our inspiration from the Noble spirit of Commitment to National Unity passed down by our heroes past, we shall not allow the lit flame of Unity in diversity to be extinguished by the activities of some political rascals polluting the polity with the filthy lucre that they have gathered from the public till.”
Dr. Hashim also emphasised that “on our own part, we shall endeavour to amplify the best in us not our worst.”
