Abdulsalami’s Committee To FG: It’s Time For Honest Dialogue

Abdusalami Abubakar's led National Peace Committee has blamed politicians, who failed to fulfil their promises, for the rising division and hatred in the country.

The NPC stated this in Abuja on Tuesday in a statement entitled A call for restraint’, which was signed by its chairman, Abubakar, and the Convener, Rev. Matthew Hassan Kukah.

The group said politicians, who failed to deliver on their mandate, had found common cause with the advocates of division and hatred.

It advised the Federal Government to consider the possibility of using the reports of the 2005 National Political Reforms Conference and other national conferences as a base for contructive national dialogue.

The NPC said besides meeting with leaders, it was time for the government to engage in an honest dialogue with all segments of the Nigerian population.

It stated, “Ongoing efforts to reach out to leaders from various parts of the country should be broadened into an honest dialogue with all segments of the Nigerian population to ensure that ordinary citizens get the opportunity to convey their views to government at the highest levels and get carried along in the formulation and implementation of government policies.”

The group said the country could not afford “to stoke the fire of hate and divisiveness” when ordinary Nigerians were finding it difficult to secure their livelihood amidst rising insecurity and increasing fear.

It added, “We have lost too many of our citizens to random and diverse acts of violence; have many more maimed for life or living in displacement. Tens of thousands of children have been orphaned by conflicts and millions of our fellow citizens now face threats of starvation in the face of rising food insecurity.

“In many parts of the country, mass killings go unpunished and unresolved, inter-communal clashes have become chronic, economic deprivations and growing social exclusion and feelings of alienation, particularly among the youths, are being exploited by segments of the elite with potentially dangerous and painful consequences for us all.”