Acting President Yemi Osinbajo has called on leaders in the country to speak out against hateful and divisive comments by their subjects.
Speaking after a meeting with state governors in Abuja, Yemi Osinbajo noted that failure of leaders at all levels to tackle hateful speeches usually degenerate into crisis.
“More importantly, we agreed on the need for leaders to speak out forcefully to counter divisive speech or any kind of warmongering,” Osinbajo noted.
“We agreed that leaders, at all levels, must speak out forcefully against any kind of divisiveness or divisive speech. And we expect that our political leaders will do so without waiting to be prompted.
“All of those who spoke felt that sometimes when leaders do not speak up promptly, it always results in degeneration, no matter what the problem may be.
He made the statement following a quit notice given to Igbos living in the North by a coalition of Northern youths as well as threats of secession by groups in the southern part of the country.
According to him, “This applied to both the statements made by the young people in the South-East as well as the youth in the northern states. We discovered there was a need for much greater resonance in the way that these things are done and for the leaders to speak up more forcefully.
“We believe that if the leaders do not speak up forcefully enough, if for any reason, matters are allowed to degenerate, not only does leadership lose their legitimacy, they run the risk of things going completely out of control.”
The meeting was part of consultations with stakeholders in the country over recent moves for secession by several groups in the country.