Buhari, Jonathan, Jega saved Nigeria – Abdulsalami

A former Head of State, retired General Abdusalami Abubakar, on Thursday said if not for the cooperation of President Muhammadu Buhari and ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, the efforts of the National Peace Committee on 2015 General Elections would have been in vain. 

Abdulsalami also acknowledged that the committee would not have succeeded if the then chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Professor Attahiru Jega, had not performed his statutory role well.

The former military leader was speaking in Abuja at the Leadership Annual Awards and Conference which he chaired.

In his speech titled, "Half full, not half empty," Abdulsalami said, "Our efforts would have been in vain if President Buhari and former President Jonathan were not willing to cooperate with us and think about Nigeria first or if Prof. Jega had failed to perform his statutory role well. We must all embrace this standard set by them and ensure that the labours of our heroes' past are not in vain. We must ensure peace because if there is no peace, there is no country."

Akwa Ibom State Governor Emmanuel Udom said the nation was currently at a crossroad as it was challenged by daunting economic and political problems.

The governor said Jonathan's decision to concede victory in the 2015 presidential election was the moment of glory in Nigeria's democracy.

He said: "In a moment that stands out as the crowing glory of our democracy, the then president Jonathan, putting the interest of the nation above his persona or group interest, conceded defeat to the current president Buhari, then of the opposition and now ruling party, the APC even before the final figures were trailed. The world stood still as what was once thought to be an impossible development manifested it's beautiful colors before us.

Our democracy has definitely come to stay and we should all be very proud, but there are still lots of job to be done.

"There are challenges that come with leadership and we should keep our eye on the ball. Some of the challenges I have seen in our body politic and indeed, the whole of the continental Africa can be grouped along the lines: deep sense of apathy and isolation, cleavage in our polity, identify politics, and security and sectarian challenges. As our democracy consolidates, there is the need to constantly engage the people on what government is doing to address their issue and problems within the polity. And engages electorate is an informed electorate and this will eliminate apathy and s feeling of isolation."

In his welcome address, the chairman of Leadership newspaper, Sam Nda-Isaiah, said Buhari, Jonathan and Jega deserved the Leadership Person Award of the Year conferred on them owing to their critical roles in the 2015 general elections.

Nda-Isaiah said Jonathan's decision to concede victory helped avert a crisis that would have claimed about 10,000 lives.

He recalled that the tension was so high that US President Barrack Obama felt so genuinely concerned that he had to address Nigerians in a televised broadcast in the fashion that colonial powers used to address their colonies.

He said: "Few thought there was no way we could get out of the presidential election alive as a country. And there was actually the augury for such dire doomsday prophecy. The election held on Saturday, March 28 and by Sunday evening, the opposition candidate was leading and had momentum. By Monday the ruling PDP had fired its best shots and was clearly behind. That was when people within the ruling party started working towards actualizing what everyone feared. Evil people planned so many things that Nigerians did not-and perhaps will not-know about. But what all of you saw was the Orubebe show. A lot more would have followed the Orubebe’s spectacle.

"But something else was happening on that day. President Goodluck Jonathan told then senator-elect, Ben Bruce and other party faithful who saw him that Monday morning that he would be conceding. Some of the party faithful didn't understand what he meant because that had never happened before. He went on to say that if he didn't concede, 10,000 Nigerians would die by the end of that day. Ben Bruce encouraged him. Others who played major roles in encouraging him included governor Seriake Dickson of  Bayelsa state, Ekpenyong, the then DSS DG and Osita Chidioka, the then minister of aviation and a handful of others. These people had to battle the criminals who wanted Jonathan to rig the election no matter how many people would die as a result.

"By 5pm on that day, President Jonathan had called Buhari to concede, thus becoming the only presidential candidate in Nigeria's history that lost an election and won at the same time. He won by simply doing what had never been done before. And by that he changed Nigeria, and set a standard for future election. Did we not all notice that after President Jonathan conceded, it became easier for several governors to concede defeat? While history will continue to remember some president for third term, President Jonathan will forever be remembered for his statesmanship."

Other categories and awardees at the event were: Leadership Young Persons of the Year, Chibok girls; Leadership Brand of the Year, Zenith Bank; Product of the Year, Dangote Cement; Company of the Year, Heritage Bank; Artiste of the Year, Korede Bello; Sports Person of the Year, Golden Eaglets and Bank of the Year, Access Bank.

Others were ICT/Telecom Company of the Year, Systemspecs; Government Agency of the Year, Central Bank of Nigeria; CEO of the Year, Simone Volpi, MD, INTELS Nigeria Limited; Public Officer of the Year, Boboye Oyeyemi, (Corps Marshal, FRSC); Business Person of the Year, Dr. Oba Otudeko (Chairman, Honeywell Group); Banker of the Year, Rasheed Olaoluwa (former MD, Bank of Industry); Governor of the Year, Alhaji Ibrahim Dankwambo (Governor of Gombe State) and Politician of the Year, Yakubu Dogara (Speaker of the House of Representatives).

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