Obaseki: Nigeria can’t be divided — it’ll be unfair to those who sacrificed for our unity

Godwin Obaseki, governor of Edo, says Nigeria cannot be divided because people have paid the price to keep the country together.

Obaseki said this on Thursday in Benin, the Edo capital, at the launch of the 2022 Armed Forces Remembrance Day emblem.

He said dividing Nigeria will be unfair to those who who have made sacrifice for the country’s unity, including those in the army.

“We should not encourage the kind of rhetoric that we have been parading in this country today about the unity of our great country. Nigeria has come to stay, and Nigeria cannot and will not be divided,” he said.

“It has to be so, because people have paid a supreme sacrifice to keep this country together, and it will not be right or fair to do anything to make it look as if those people who fought for this country did not know what they were doing.

“As a state and a country, we remain very optimistic that despite the threats of insecurity and banditry which we face as a country and a state, that we will overcome.

“We are hopeful that we will continue to secure our state and our country, because we have courageous people like you, who are ready to serve and sacrifice for the country.

“That is why we take events like this very seriously and to encourage the younger ones what sacrifices for the country means and also to encourage those of you who are in service that your efforts will not be in vain.”

In his comments, Marcus Onobun, the speaker, Edo house of assembly, pledged 50 percent of his salary to the legion, while Tony Aziegbemi, the state chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), donated N1 million.

In his remarks, Ignatius Enabulele, the chairman of the Nigerian Legion in Edo, pledged the group’s support in tackling insecurity in the state.