The Presidency has cautioned against the inflammatory utterances being made by elder statesmen in the country in order to prevent a repeat of civil war in the country.
Chief of Staff (COS) to the President, Chief Mike Ogiadomhe, in a chat with State House correspondents in Abuja reminded Nigerians of the devastating effects of the Biafran war and said no well thinking Nigerian would wish for a return of such crises.
“We should never at anytime believe or take anything for granted. We are Nigerians. We have no other home like Idiagbon and co said in those days and we cannot afford to push ourselves into the situation some misguided other countries have found themselves.”
The COS added: “When people chant war songs and all that, it is because, perhaps, they do not live in Borno, they do not live in Adamawa or Yobe or in some parts of Bauchi or Kano. Maybe some of them are too old or they now have dementia.
“For those who are old enough to remember what happened between 1967 and 1970. At times, it is good that you people play back your clips on humanitarian effects between 1967 and 1970 when people saw the face of hunger, the face of kwashiorkor to show that when you talk of HIV/AIDS today they are nowhere comparable when they see distress, dislocation, displacement. ”
He also thanked the media for their support of the war the Federal Government was prosecuting against terror in the country.
According to him, “Let me say that while recognising the fact that you (the media) have been very supportive of this administration, you can see that for some strange reason people are deliberately heating up the polity in Nigeria today.
“When you overheat the polity it is not in the general interest of Nigerians. Some people may feel that politics is a competitive business and they are doing this against the ruling party or against an interest or whatever but politics must be played within a reasonable criteria and whatever we do we must avoid those things that would threaten the corporate existence of the country, those things that can derail democracy.
“So we should as much as possible because you (the media) are also the conscience of society refrain from joining the politicians in their fight. You must mitigate, the politicians must help to mitigate. When the politicians are going mad, don’t report them in that madness because that inflames the society,” he stated.