By ‘You must ascend to a higher moral ground’
By John Eche
Former minister of education and one of the core drivers of the Bring Back Our Girls movement, Dr Oby Ezekwesili has taken exception to the approach of the federal government in resolving the issue of escalating calls for a referendum in the South East.
Ezekwesili, who served in the Due Process Office and the Education and Solid Minerals ministries during the tenure of former President Olusegun Obasanjo says the deployment of military to the southeast to quell this and other associated concerns could paradoxically result in the unintended consequence of alienating even wider segments of the eastern population.
In a series of tweets, Ezekwesili implored President Muhammadu Buhari not to stigmatize the entirety of the Igbo nation on account of the activities of IPOB.
She then went on to counsel the government to handle the agitation from the group with what she called “appropriate mechanism.”
She equally urged the president to ascend a moral high ground and lead a conversation on unity.
Pleading with the handlers of the presidential twitter handle to ensure that they pass on her message to their boss, she tweeted:
“Do not alienate the entire Igbo ethnic group cos of a few that govt can use appropriate mechanisms to respond to any misconduct.
“All people of north-east Nigeria are not equal to Boko Haram. All people of south-east Nigeria cannot be equal to incendiary agitators.
“The leader of a country cannot be friends only of those he/she likes. No. That is not leadership. The leader builds up groups. Not divide.
“You cannot lead only those that worship and swear by you. You are the leader. You must carry the burden even of those that detest you.
“It the lowliest form of churlishness that is unbecoming of a leader to send signals that you dislike anyone of the groups you lead.
“A real leader does not suffer from the destructive disease of ethnic prejudice. It endangers his/her people & real leaders cannot bear such.”
‘NONE of YOU can CLAIM GREATER NIGERIANNESS than some of us. I AM NIGERIAN and WILL ALWAYS BE. LEADERSHIP MUST BE FOR ALL… AT ALL TIMES.’
‘There ARE WAYS that a LEADER ASCENDS the MORAL HIGH GROUND and LEADS A CONVERSATION on UNITY. DONE WELL, the MISCHIEVOUS LOSE THEIR HOLD.’
‘President @MBuhari , it is NOT YET TOO LATE for YOU to ASCEND that MORAL HIGH GROUND & BOND WITH ALL YOUR PEOPLE – EAST, WEST, NORTH, SOUTH.’
‘At a time when the WORDS spoken & written across the EAST-WEST-NORTH-SOUTH of our country are HARDENING, YOU, LEADER @MBuhari MUST ARISE!✍????’
‘.@MBuhari Do NOT ALIENATE the ENTIRE Igbo ethnic group cos of a FEW that Govt can use APPROPRIATE MECHANISMS to RESPOND to ANY MISCONDUCT. ‘
Dr. Oby Ezekwesili
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