Imah Ajirioghene
The Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, has cautioned against ethnic and religious bias in the country, especially by the elites, in their quest for power.
Osinbajo stated this while delivering a lecture, titled “Creating a Homeland for All: Nation Building in a Diverse Democracy,” as part of the policy-making and good governance lecture series initiated by the management of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS).
According to him, Nigeria must prioritise its unity and progress by resisting prejudices that have impeded the nation’s growth.
Osinbajo, who warned that prejudices which tends to hinder the progress of the country must be avoided, noted that there must be a deliberate policy backed by elite agreement that bars Nigerians from using the nation’s diversity to negatively promote their ambitions.
He stated that the task of changing the situation lies with both the citizens and the government, which is expected to drive changes and enforce the rule of law at all times.
He added that ethnic and religious profiling for political reasons must be curtailed because of its destructive tendencies, adding that when ethnic or religious prejudice is weaponised for political purposes, the nation is confronted with a potentially deadly and destructive situation.
In his words, “But when ethnic or religious prejudices are weaponized for political purposes, we are confronted with a lethal, potentially destructive situation. Elections, by their very nature, tend to be divisive affairs.
“Partisan democratic competition compels us to align ourselves with the camps that most reflect our ideals and aspirations,” he said.
