On Saturday, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the Minister of Information and Culture, called on Nigerians to resist any agenda aimed at causing discord and instability in the country.
While speaking on a radio program monitored by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos, the minister made the call.
He urged them not to encourage anyone or party to play against each other in the country’s security challenges.
Mohammed said the security problems of the country could be resolved, urging people to refrain from statements and rhetoric that could aggravate the situation.
“We are calling on all Nigerians to resist any agenda by anybody to threaten the unity and peaceful coexistence in the country.
“We have always lived together peacefully for long as Hausas, Yorubas, Ibos, Fulanis and so on, and we have always resolved our differences amicably.
“So, l want to urge our political and religious leaders particularly to be careful about what they say.
“We should be doing things that could help address the security challenges that we have, not making statements capable of worsening the situation,” he said.
The Minister also cautioned against presenting the conflicts between herders and farmers in parts of the nation as part of one ethnic group’s plans to subjugate the other.
He said farmers and herders had always had disputes and a way to solve the problems had always been found by community leaders in the affected areas.
The minister said that societies needed to go back to the old ways of resolving disputes for peace to reign between herders and farmers.
The Federal Government was committed to protecting all people, Mohammed said, and would not side with any single person against each other.
On banditry and uprising, Mohammed said the state was doing its best to resolve the issues.
He said security agencies had reported outstanding achievements against bandits and terrorists and called on Nigerians to help them do more.
“If we look at where we were and where are now, we will see that a lot has been achieved.
“Though the challenges are still there, the government won’t rest until the problems are over.
“I want to call on citizens to continue to support the government and our security agencies to achieve more,” he said.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
