How well the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will handle Nigeria’s general election in 2015 will go a long way in ensuring that the prediction of the nation’s disintegration will not come to pass, a Nigerian lawyer has said.
The lawyer, who is also the chairman of the National Daily, Chris Akiri, said on Friday that ethnic politics and religious affinities in Nigeria had put the nation on a road that may lead to post-election crisis after the announcement of the 2015 presidential election result.
“The battle field in 2015 will be terrible.
“If the present President wins, those people who said the blood of baboons and dogs will flow will rise up in insurrection again and if the present opposition should win, the present administration may not take kindly to it. There will be disturbances almost everywhere in the country.
“We are between Scylla and Charybdis.
When America Predicted 15 years ago that Nigeria will collapse in 2015, they knew what they were talking about.
“We should all be prayerful that the worst will not happen in 2015.
“INEC should play their role very well in the 2015 elections to ensure that the election is not only free, fair and credible, but also seen to be free, fair and credible,” Mr Akiri emphasised.
The INEC has continued to reassure Nigerians of its readiness to deliver free, fair and credible elections in 2015.
He blamed politicians in Nigeria for bringing the issue of ethnicity and religion into politics, causing a division among Nigerians.
“When you look at ethnic politics and you combine it with religious issues, it has become so disturbing that I do not know where we are going to.
“When I was a young person, I had a wonderful world view of Nigeria and I thought things were going to be wonderful.
“We had true nationalists that fought the colonial leaders to a stop.
“Nobody knew whether the other persons was an adherent to one religion or another. Nobody knew if the other person belong to one ethnic group or the other.
“We all lived happily together. That was when Nigeria was the giant of Africa because we epitomised everything that was good socio-politically,” he said.
Mr Akiri, however, praised the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan, saying that the issues of religion had been subdued to a great extent.
He further urged Nigerians to look beyond ethnicity and religion to the performance of individuals.