<\/p>\n
\u201cYourExcellencies,<\/p>\n
\u201cShortly after his appointment as National Security Adviser, General
\nAndrew Azazi, at his own request, met with me in my office in Lagos to
\ndiscuss the state of the nation. It was on the eve of the 2011 elections.
\nI told the General that I was not worried about the conduct of the
\nelections or about the outcome which I expected President Jonathan to win.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat really worried me, I told the General, was the management of the
\nviolence that would ensue after the elections. I was sure that there would
\nbe violence on a massive scale and I made some suggestions to him about
\nhow I thought the violence could be contained.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy suggestions were not acted upon. The elections occurred, President
\nJonathan won and all hell broke loose. Missing were the
\nconflict-controlled measures which I had discussed with General Azazi.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow we are back at the same crossroads again, except this time is more
\nprecarious and dangerous than the last time.<\/p>\n
\u201cFirstly, we have this very notorious prediction from United States
\nsemi-official sources that the world is expecting a cataclysmic meltdown
\nof the Nigerian nation come 2015. Of course, most Nigerians have taken
\numbrage at this prediction for their country. But there are Nigerians who
\nare indifferent to the outcome of this prediction.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of my low moments during the just concluded 2014 National Conference
\nwas when in an attempt to break an impasse, I painted a grim picture of
\ndevastation which would follow a breakdown of the Nigerian state, to which
\na delegate between 45 and 55 years old replied: \u2018So what?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought to myself, here is a man who would probably run away to a
\nneighbouring country at the boom of the first gun but was callously
\nindifferent to the fate of the youths, women and children who would be
\ncaught in the middle.<\/p>\n
\u201cSecondly, the certainty of violence after the 2015 elections is higher
\nthan it was in 2011. If President Jonathan wins, the North would erupt
\ninto violence as it did in 2011. If General Buhari wins, the Niger Delta
\nwill erupt into violence. I don\u2019t believe that we need rocket science to
\nmake this prediction.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe violence of 2015 is going to be horrendous and worse than the one of
\n2011 for the simple reason that the illegal, massive importation of
\nweapons into the country has reached such alarming proportions that I
\nreally wonder which is better armed, the militias on one hand or the
\nofficial armed forces on the other hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the avoidance of doubt, I am not imputing the illegal importation of
\narms to any particular zone. Some years ago, some Iranians were arrested
\nfor bringing in a shipload of weapons into Lagos harbour. They were tried
\nand jailed and then smuggled out of the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome months ago, sophisticated weapons were discovered buried in the
\nbasement of a Kano house. All these have now fallen below the radar. These
\nare the ones we know about. How many do we not know about?<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are states and movements out there, African and non-African, which
\ndo not mean well for the Nigerian state, which wish Nigeria to dissolve
\ninto a theatre of bloodshed, gore and instability.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey will succeed if we continue the politics of making enemies of
\nourselves and friends of our enemies.<\/p>\n
Way forward<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first step forward is for the two Presidential candidates to meet and
\nsign a Memorandum of Undertaking that will commit both to:<\/p>\n
A civil and peaceful campaign, devoid of threats.<\/p>\n
A commitment to preach peaceful elections to their supporters.<\/p>\n
A commitment to control their supporters after the elections. Supporters
\nof whoever loses should be entitled to peaceful protests but not to
\nviolent protests.<\/p>\n
\u201cI also appeal to the following:<\/p>\n
The Sultan, Alhaji Muhammad Sa\u2019ad Abubakar III<\/p>\n
The Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammad Sanusi II<\/p>\n
The Lamido of Adamawa, Alhaji Muhammadu Barkindo Mustapha<\/p>\n
The Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade<\/p>\n
The Oba of Benin, OmoN\u2019oba Erediauwa<\/p>\n
Chief Emeka Anyaoku<\/p>\n
Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor<\/p>\n
Pastor Enoch Adeboye<\/p>\n
His Excellency, General Yakubu Gowon<\/p>\n
His Excellency General Abubakar Abdulsalami to facilitate the
\npre-election meeting between the candidates, the preparation of the
\nMemorandum of Undertaking and as a Council of Wisemen to assist in
\nmanaging the post-election conflicts.
\n\u201cYours sincerely.<\/p>\n
Former Nigerian Foreign Minister and Deputy Chairman, 2014 National
\nConference.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cYourExcellencies, \u201cShortly after his appointment as National Security Adviser, General Andrew Azazi, at his own request, met with me in my office in Lagos to discuss the state of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27162,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34391","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n