Northern elders warn against inflammatory comments

    
Northern elders on Wednesday warned politicians against making inflammatory statements on issues of politics.

They said such comments were capable of plunging the nation into chaos and that  Nigeria’s unity should be paramount in the minds of all instead of few politicians thinking about themselves alone.

The northern elders, who came together under a group known as Northern Elders Council, made their position known at a press briefing in Abuja.

Chairman of the Council, Alhaji Tanko Yakasai, who read a prepared speech on behalf of other members of the council, specifically directed his warning to some unnamed people in the northern region.

He said some people from the region had been threatening fire and brimstone as 2015 presidential election draws nearer.

Yakassai said anyone doing that was not representing the interest of the  North, adding that it was wrong for anyone or group, no matter his grouse or its grievances, to heat up the polity with the intent to destroy what the founding fathers of the nation had used their seat and blood to put together.

He said it was the opinion of the elders from the North that the statements being made by some northern leaders, as far as the issue of Boko Haram and its attendant security challenges were concerned, were unnecessary.

He said,  ”The security challenges in Boko Haram and other ethno-religious crisis in the North as well as violent crimes of kidnapping and armed robberies in other parts of the country pose a serious challenge to the nation, including wide spread poverty and unemployment.

“In an effort to find lasting solution to this national malaise, there have arisen mutual distrust and suspicions leading to utterances by some people capable of affecting, the standing, respectability and unity of the North in particular and the country in general.

“The founding fathers of our nation manifested tact, wisdom, courage and moderation in their conduct of public affairs. They had tackled major challenges without inflammatory and inciting statements with wisdom and maturity.”