A former Governor of Jigawa State, Alhaji Sule Lamido, has urged a former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, not to allow his disagreement with the current administration of President Muhammadu Buhari to turn him into a bigot. Lamido urged the former president to withdraw the statement credited to him that Boko Haram had an agenda of “Fulanisation and Islamisation of West Africa.”

Speaking with CEOAFRICA source yesterday, Lamido said he still nurtured respect for Obasanjo, but quickly added that it would be wrong for the former president to erode his long-standing respect as a statesman with an uncomplimentary comment that touched the religious sensitivity of others. Lamido said, like Obasanjo, he would continue to criticise President Buhari over bad governance, but quickly noted that the statement by Obasanjo, especially considering the occasion and venue spoken, did not add up for the unity of Nigeria.

  The former governor who is a political ally of Obasanjo, had earlier in a statement yesterday which was signed by his media aide, Mansur Ahmad, reminded Obasanjo of his standing in the society. Obasanjo reportedly spoke on “Fulanisation and Islamisation of West Africa” at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Oleh, in Isoko South Local Government Area of Delta State.

 He said the twin evils of Boko Haram and marauding cattle herders were initially treated with kid gloves before they reached the present level. “It is no longer an issue of lack of education and lack of employment for our youths in Nigeria which it began as, it is now West African Fulanisation, Islamisation and global organised crimes of human trafficking, money laundering, drug trafficking, gun trafficking, illegal mining and regime change,” Obasanjo was quoted as saying. But Lamido said he believed the former president’s comment was improper for a nationalist and should not have come from the former president. “If it were said at a non-religious venue to a non-religious audience, may be; it might have been more tolerable.

Please sir, don’t let your disappointment with the sitting presidents turn you into a bigot. You must not abandon the national stage. The cracks along the various divides in our national cohesion are already turning into huge gorges,” Lamido said.

Read more: https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/lamido-to-obasanjo-dont-turn-to-bigot.html