Former PDP chairman, Bode George advices Osinbajo to seek advice from Obasanjo and Gowon over Biafra crisis.

The Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo has been advised by a former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Bode George, to invite former President

Olusegun Obasanjo and a former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, and other elder statesmen to an emergency meeting over the increasing secessionist agitations.

George said this in a statement on Thursday.

While commending Osinbajo for his recent meetings with some Igbo and northern politicians, George advised the acting President to also invite other personalities actively involved in Nigeria’s Civil War like a former Minister of Defence, Lt.-Gen. Theophilus Danjuma (retd.), and others.

George, who is a former military governor of the old Ondo State, said the ethnic tension in the country was becoming dangerous, adding that the matter should not be treated with kid gloves.

He said, “The current consultations that our government has embarked upon across the tribal divide are laudable and exemplary. But the government should do more. It should widen the consultation efforts by inviting formidable elders and statesmen who were active participants and managers of our nation during the dark drama of our civil war.

“The chastening voices of General Yakubu Gowon, General Obasanjo, General T.Y. Danjuma, General Alani Akinrinade, General Alabi Isama, General Haruna, General Babangida, General Abdulsalami, Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe, Governor Achike Udenwa, Col. Iheanacho (retd.), Rear- Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu, and many others on both sides of the divide at that time, will go a long way in tempering the flight of fancy of the intemperate agitators who have never heard a gunshot in anger.

“The experiences of these statesmen and builders of our nation should be more than enough to caution those who are presently preaching the politics of division.”

The PDP chieftain, who argued that no nation has ever survived two civil wars, urged the secessionist elements to embrace unity and added that the greatest nations in the world were the most diverse.

He said Nigeria should follow the example of Lagos State which had embraced diversity such that everyone had a sense of belonging in the state.

George added, “Here in my home state and my native root of Lagos, there is no ethnic group in Nigeria that is not represented from Isale Eko to the most distant outreach of Badagry. Lagos is the Nigerian giant melting pot where everyone is given equal opportunities to realise his ambition.

“There is no discrimination or bigotry here. Everyone is welcome with open arms to contribute to the centrality of our commercial vision. As a trading post and the commercial nerve of our nation, the progress of Lagos with over N26bn monthly Internally Generated Revenue is a collective contribution of everyone who calls Lagos home.”