Osinbajo: Crisis in Nigeria caused by refusal of elite to speak truth to their communities

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo says the crisis witnessed in the country is caused by the refusal of the elite to speak truth to their communities.

Osinbajo said this at an interactive forum of the All Progressives Congress Anambra governorship aspirants, organised by the state chapter of ‘APC patriots’ in Abuja.

The vice-president also said Nigeria cannot afford another civil war.

Osinbajo said the political elite must rise up to the challenge by speaking the truth and taking action to address the situation in the country.

“The thing about the kind of conflict in this part of the world, developing countries, is that it is usually a war without end,” he said.

“Everyone who thinks he has some monies stored up somewhere will eventually run out of money. Everyone who thinks he can go and hide somewhere won’t even find a place to hide. At the end, everyone will suffer.

“Even if you don’t suffer, parents, children, young and old people and relations will suffer. We cannot afford a war in this country, we can’t afford it.”

“I pray that our country will never know conflict, but I know that every conflict is as a result of elite failure to speak up the truth and tell the truth to their communities.

“At the end of the day, it is the political elite that determines what happens in every society. Keeping quiet could lead to a more dangerous situation.

“If we don’t speak up against disunity, if we keep quiet and remain under the radar, the enemies of peace and those who want to promote disunity will have their way. And when this happens, we will find ourselves running helter-skelter.”

He asked the political elite to stand for the interest of the country and the people.

He also assured the APC aspirants that the leadership of the party will ensure a level playing field for all during the primary election slated for June, to ensure that the best aspirant emerges as the candidate.

He asked them to work in unity and commitment to the party.

“No one politician can win an election all by himself. I also want to advise you against the winner-takes-all syndrome,” he said.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect that the vice-president’s comment on the elite was on them speaking truth to their communities — not to power.