The Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe Foundation has commended the government and people of Nigeria for the successful conduct of the 2015 general elections despite some initial apprehensions surrounding the process. The foundation through its Mission For Democracy in Africa Project says that Nigerians with the elections have cemented the unity of the country against the predictions of doomsayers.
“It is immense joy and great promise to the Nigerian people that the 2015 elections became an expression of the capacity of the Nigerian people to co-exist as a country. The predictions of the disintegration of the country as the consequent fallout of the 2015 presidential elections have become fallacious deriving from the sportsmanship exhibited by winners and losers in the post-election aftermath.’’
The statement signed by Mr. Charles Anyiam-Osigwe commended the example shown by President Goodluck Jonathan by not contesting the results of the presidential election adding that it elevates the standards of democratic engagements in our polity.
“It is to be noted that this is the first time Nigerians are experiencing the aftermath of a presidential election without mudslinging, name calling, threats, intimidations and legal build-up.’’
The statement also commended the President-Elect, General Muhammadu Buhari Rtd, for his statesmanlike conduct since he won the election. Mr. Anyiam-Osigwe praised the contestants and political parties who participated to enrich the electoral process.
The foundation, therefore, called on the newly elected leaders and the outgoing ones to sustain the peace and unity of Nigeria in and out of office. “The greatest challenge that has confronted Nigeria since 1960 is how to transcend the limitations of the 1914 amalgamation and evolve a nation instead of existing as a mere geographical expression. In realizing this vision, our aspiration is the emergence of a Nigerian citizenship in which our various ethnic expressions finds subjective expression.
“The joy of this moment is in the visible progress of our beloved country towards the attainment of nationhood. We owe our children the price of keeping this historic progress in focus and bringing the attainment of a Nigerian nation in which neither Igbo nor Yoruba nor Hausa nor any ethnic indigeneship will define our response to issues but the extent to which the Nigerian interest is so preserved.