A former chairmanship candidate of Social Democratic Party (SDP) for Kabba/Bunu local government area, Nayo Jude Babatunde has called on people of the area to shun campaign that can undermine the unity and peaceful co-existence among the various districts and communities that form the local government.
Nayo, at a summit organized by Kabba Students Union, stated that candidates vying for the Kabba/Bunu state constituency seat and their supporters across boards should desist from the prevailing campaign of calumny, character assassination, and undue segmentation that will do no good to the people but will further divide them and bring the people to a new level of retrogression.
“Our campaigns should and must be issue-based,” he said.
Reacting to the “Bunu lokan” and “Owe agenda” campaigns presently being propagated by candidates vying for the state constituency seat at the Kogi state House of Assembly and their schemers, he noted that, “the interests of the candidates vying for the same political office as being projected are rational and worthy to agitate for, however, these interests should not be used as a scheme or tool to divide the people and to sabotage the beautiful co-existence we’ve shared over centuries. As a people, we have more in common other than political parties and their interests.
“The current approach to the actualization of the political wills of these political parties and their actors will only truncate our traditionally established cultural and moral principles and ideologies as a people.”
“Campaigns should be issue-based, compromises should be reached from our respective camps, and unity of purpose and practices of common benefits should be engaged”
“These prevailing campaigns of undiluted inter-communal sentiments are not our best alternative if truly shared development and inclusiveness is the course that these interests represent.
“These politicians from within and outside us are promoting these schemes of sentiment to divide us further, that their political, selfish, and anti people’s interests may thrive. Our campaigns should be issue-based, our interests should be focused on true development, shared prosperity, and the political strength we have as a people”
Nayo called on concerned individuals, traditional and religious leaders, including civil society to come to a round table discussion at various levels about the present realities and future of Kabba/ Bunu as a people, have a common goal of development and shared prosperity as it were before the emergence of the political scavengers and power mongers that have infiltrated our leadership structure and common interest as a people.
“Kabba-Bunu State constituency seat is one for all, political stakeholders should ostracize segregationism, vilification, and undue sentiments. It is a pathway to retrogression and political degradation of the people” he added.
