Stop Anyaoku cautions politicians against ethnicising 2015 presidency

Former Commonwealth Secretary-General, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, on Friday cautioned Nigerian  politicians and high profile citizens against ethnicising  the 2015 presidency.

According to the elder statesman, the trend forebodes danger for the polity.

Anyaoku spoke  in Abuja while delivering a lecture entitled, 'Nigerian public service in the age of open Government: Giving voice to the people,' during the 2013 Public Service Day.

Speaking at the event, which was organised by the Office of Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Anyaoku urged  politicians to particularly desist from politicising the security challenges.in the country.

His words,, 'The leaders of all our political parties and ethno-cultural groups in the various parts of the country should, in the interest of national security, rally round to support the Federal Government's measures to deal with the atrocities being perpetrated by terrorist groups.

'I am concerned about the worrisome statements being made about the 2015 elections by a number of our high profile citizens. I call on our politicians and opinion makers to stop and think of the implications for the country's stability of the battle lines for the elections being drawn on sectional and ethnic basis.

'We hear declarations from notable nationals that the Presidency in 2015 must come from a specific area of the country, and we also hear at the same time from notable nationals that a different area must have its full two terms of eight years.'

According to him,  competition among individual candidates for political office should be driven by specific pledges of how to serve the various concerns of the electorate, rather than sheer quest for position and power.

He Said,, 'If we are to promote our national solidarity, and if we are to succeed in entrenching our democracy, our politicians and leaders of thought must move away from section-based to policy-based politics. Campaigns and advocacy of support for candidates must be based on the manifestos of political parties outlining policies and programmes for addressing the various challenges facing the country and its citizens.'