No Election Has Worried Me Like This – Bolaji Akinyemi

Former minister of Foreign Affairs, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi has expressed concern over the forthcoming elections saying that no election in Nigerian history has filled him with dread as the one taking place on Saturday.

In a press statement he issued on Sunday, the former diplomat and scholar charged Nigeria’s political class that the international community had put them on notice through their recent interventions.

Akinyemi said:

“Since I have been monitoring elections in Nigeria, I cannot remember any elections that filled me with so much dread and trepidation as these forthcoming elections. Not even the riotous 1965 Federal elections. And we all know what that led to.

“As a scholar in international relations, I cannot but bring to the attention of Nigerians the significance of the latest development in Venezuela where the international community under the United States has accorded recognition to the opposition leader as the alternative President as their reaction to what it perceives as a flawed election. This is promoting regime change by another route. This is the beginning not the end of the Venezuelan nightmare. Nigeria should by all means avoid a repetition of the Venezuelan nightmare in Nigeria.

“Therefore I appeal to the political leaders to call on their supporters to eschew violence and any undemocratic behaviour during these elections. We should avoid hate speech not just know but in our political system.

“Finally, the  United States, the European Union, the International Criminal Court, in other words, the international community have put us on notice as to their expectations. It is in our own good to listen to them.”

 And For More Nigerian News Visit GWG.NG