The upcoming governorship and House of Assembly elections should not result in bloodshed in Lagos State, according to a pressure organization operating under the banner of Leaders After God's Own Spirit For A New State.
At a news conference on Saturday in Lagos, the convener, pastor Bolaji Akinyemi, said it was crucial to quell racial and religious prejudice among politicians and their supporters in advance of the elections.
He claims that the group places more importance on the harmonious coexistence of persons from different racial and religious backgrounds than on politics.Akinyemi, who is also the convener of the Apostolic Roundtable (an open forum for pastors) and the chairman of the board of trustees for the Project Victory Corps Initiative, pleaded on lawmakers to put a halt to any drumbeats of war being waged in the name of politics.
"Political choices shouldn't push us into conflict. We have witnessed dynamics in Lagos being pushed up during this election, including the dynamics of tribes like the Igbo wanting to take over Lagos and the Yoruba having to stop them, among other themes.
If we do not put an end to this narrative that is gaining traction, I seriously doubt that Lagos will hold elections on Saturday.
"It's crucial that we get everyone together to talk about the next steps. The people need to be adequately carried along by us as leaders."We cannot have a Lagos where the Igbo are unable to reside there and where markets are burning. We don't want to live in Lagos like that.
"We have coexisted peacefully as good neighbors, and we must do so going forward. We must not allow anyone to sabotage the advancements we have made as a model for the rest of Nigeria, he urged.
It was time to build a lovely atmosphere in the state, he said, urging the youth not to follow politicians who incite violence.
According to Akinyemi, effective leadership in politics requires a certain amount of selflessness, maturity, and independence.Akinyemi criticized the alleged backing of some candidates by Christian organizations, saying that this was against the norm for what Christian organizations should do.We need to get to a place where we as individual Christians can sit down with our Muslim brothers and talk about how to coexist peacefully without letting political and religious leadership jeopardize Lagos' tranquility.
He claimed that the political and religious establishments were working together to turn people against one another.In regards to Lagos politics, Akinyemi stated that the committee had decided that in order to fulfill every resident's goal, the state required an independent governor who was not beholden to the apron of any godfather.
Pastor Femi Ferguson, president of the Pentecostal Family Fellowship Network, issued a warning against doing anything that would spark intertribal conflict in his remarks.
Politicians should think about the repercussions of inciting people against one another, Ferguson urged."I don't understand why politicians in Nigeria are spreading the seeds of unrest among the populace in the name of elections and money. Let the elected officials halt this.
"I don't know how individuals will be going around inciting others to commit atrocities against their fellow humans. We ought to be discussing humanity.
"The righteous man's appearance is what we demand. The populace will be glad when the virtuous is in power. From their ancestors, we can determine the righteous.
"Our country has seen enough bloodshed; we don't want it to happen again. We cherish ourselves."We want a brand-new Nigeria and Lagos. Nobody can take Lagos away from Yoruba and Aworis; it is our California, according to Ferguson, a former PFN publicity secretary in Lagos State.
