A member of the Northern Elders Forum, Dr. Junaid Mohammed has said that Nigeria would not disintegrate if President Goodluck Jonathan was denied a second term in office by the electorate.
The Second Republic Lawmaker made the statement in response to a remark by former Anambra State Governor, Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife that Nigeria would infact disintegrate if Jonathan was not re-elected into office.
Ezeife had said: “Everybody can make noise but if those who are making noise should think deeply, they would realize that the continued existence of Nigeria as one country is anchored on Jonathan’s continuation in office come 2015.”
“The Niger Delta boys would blow up all the oil pipelines and then a part of the country could say they are no longer interested in Nigeria; they could say Nigeria legally expired when the nation marked its centenary and that they are now on their own.
“This is not what I want, but I am afraid it could happen if we foolishly think of only our short term interest, instead of thinking of long term implications.
However, Mohammed retorted: “It is unfortunate that Ezeife, who witness the Biafran war orchestrated by his kinsmen, which claimed over one million of Igbo people, should be beating the drums of war today.
“It is, therefore, clear to all that the man has lost touch with reality and is merely playing to the gallery for selfish motives.
“People like Ezeife are perpetual political opportunists in the Nigerian political arena and should be ignored especially when they fan the embers of ethnicity and war in time of peace such as we have in Nigeria.
“My candid advice to Nigerians is that they should ignore him because he does not have a good sense of history and does not speak for anyone in Nigeria.”
Mohammed also shut down a claim by Ezeife that aggrieved Niger Delta militants would blow up pipelines.
“Contrary to Ezeife’s postulation, Niger Delta militants or any terrorist group cannot be a threat to a government that emerges through credible, free and fair election in Nigeria,” Mohammed said.