The Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria, Ima Niboro, on Friday urged politicians to tread on the path of peace in pursuing their ambitions in the 2015 general elections.
Niboro made the call when the Christian Forum for Governance in Righteousness paid him a courtesy visit in Abuja.
Niboro urged aspirants to be careful in their utterances while carrying out their campaigns to avoid stirring up crisis stating that negative statements were building blocks for anarchy.
He said: “Some of the things you do today, you can become either the beneficiary or the victim of it tomorrow.
“So, it’s good for you to do whatever you are doing with a very clear and altruistic mind.
“I call on all political actors in this country to pursue the path of peace, the political forces at play to embrace peace.
“The Americans, the CIA said we (Nigeria) will break up in 2015, but I believe that this country will survive.
“This country will make it and we should treat ourselves with greater respect.
“Because I believe that the things that hold us together are bigger and greater than things that separate us.”
Niboro said that NAN would not publish stories that would create trouble, adding that the agency had a responsibility of objective reporting to the nation.
The MD commended and thanked the Christian group for its efforts in promoting peace in the electoral processes.
Niboro also encouraged the group to reach out to the Muslim brothers to ensure sustainability and spread of the message of peace.
Earlier, Rev. Chuks Alozie, the Executive Vice Chairman of the Christian Forum for Governance in Righteousness, said the group was campaigning for positive transformation in the minds of the Nigerian citizens.
Alozie urged the public to always create an atmosphere of peace to promote unity and development in the country.
He said: “Today, a lot of people are apathetic about the electoral process.
“With the number of Christians we have in Nigeria, if all of us begin to play our part, we’ll see that transformation itself is another form of righteousness.
“We believe that this must happen inwardly first because when you are transformed, everything around you transforms.
“Your relationship with people transforms.
“You don’t want to know where people are coming from.
“What you want to know is: ‘do you know it? Can we do it together?’
“And you do it together.
“So these are some of the things we are campaigning for because without it, Nigeria cannot be the Nigeria all of us desire to be.
“We want to appeal to Nigerians: they should look at the candidates and know who the best man for the job is and people should come out and vote and guard their votes.
“So that at the end of the day, when the result is announced, whoever that God has said will lead, there will be peace.
“I want to appeal to our politicians: politics is not a do or die affair.
“People should guard their utterances because unguarded utterances can divide us quickly and can cause problems.”
The Executive Vice chairman urged NAN to use its platform to check and monitor stories that could instigate chaos.
Alozie also solicited for partnership with the agency to enhance creation of awareness on the need to promote peace in the country.
The Christian forum was established in 2005 to promote national development and effective participation in the democratic process.
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