Southern Forum appeals for caution in Obasanjo, Jonathan face-off

The Southern Forum has described the face-off between former President Olusegun Obasanjo and
President Goodluck Jonathan as an ill-wind that should be handled with great caution by politicians in the interest of survival of the country.
The Southern Forum was established by a conference of governors, legislators, political and cultural group leaders held in Enugu, Enugu State on December 19, 2005 and had successfully campaigned for an equitable distribution of the rulership of the country to give room to either the South South and South East to produce the president at the completion of the tenure of Obasanjo.
“It is the considered view of the Forum that the two leaders sheath their sword to embrace the path of understanding and reconciliation,” the group said in a statement issued by its Director of Media and Public Communications, Hon. T. A. Adebisi.
It noted that the unguarded altercation of both leaders could not in any way be in the best interest of Nigeria.
Adebisi said the group has initiated a reconciliation move to realign the two leaders.
He said that a meeting of its National Executive Committee due to hold soon, would work out the strategies.
The SF said the move became necessary “because we cannot fold our arms and see the fruit of our struggle for equity, justice and fairness in the politics of the country, frittered away by communication gap between Obasanjo and Jonathan”.
The Southern Forum noted that already some organizations and individuals, who profit in confusion are already feasting on the disagreement to heat up the polity.
The statement added: “This cannot be allowed to continue. We therefore are calling on all people of goodwill to restrain themselves from being drawn by emotion to join the bandwagon on either side of the arguments in order to stop the denigration of our nascent democratic culture.
“We would not join issues with those agent provocateurs of discord who are already blowing beyond proportion the sincere word of a father to a son in their ulterior motive to exacerbate the simmering security crisis in the nation. Rather, we should do everything possible to salvage the country from the brink and give Nigeria a better image in the comity of nations of the world.”