Last week, hundreds of people were reported to have assembled in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State where they made a pronouncement on their choice of Prof Yemi Osinbajo, vice president of Nigeria, as the next president.
In doing that, they admitted that other aspirants who have declared or are yet to publicly declare their ambition were equally good and competent to lead Nigeria but that Osinbajo was the best option, hence their decision to queue behind him.
Their declaration conference tagged the Uyo Declaration, taking place in a PDP dominated state for an APC strong member, was very significant for a number of reasons. From reports, the Uyo declaration attracted delegates from all parts of the country, including the south south states. The organisers must have had their good reasons for the choice of Uyo as host of that historic declaration and conference.
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The political event came a few weeks after something close to it was to be held in Calabar, by the PDP, but which was truncated by the APC, allegedly. It was supposed to be a rally for the just concluded bye-elections in Akpabuyo state constituency and the Ogoja/Yala Federal constituency respectively.
Just as it happened in Uyo, the venue for that event in Calabar was a private facility. But the government of APC in Cross River was accused of being responsible for the barricade of the venue, preventing the party members and all those who went for the rally, from accessing the venue. It took the intervention of the very top hierarchy of the police in Abuja, following the intervention of a south south governor, for the rally venue to be open and for the event to commence.
But in Uyo, there was no encumbrance. The PDP state government did not interfere with the activities of the APC members who had taken over the state capital for about four days. Reports indicate that the Uyo Declaration was not only peaceful but very successful.
One benefit of that event was that for those four days, the economy of the state must have received some kind of boost, especially in the hospitality industry. All the good hotels in the state were taken. Even the not so good hotels were also fully taken by the delegates. And what that meant was that more money was in circulation in that town. That happened because there was political tolerance on the part of the state government.
That is why we believe that in times like this when political activities are getting to its crescendo, political leaders need to be more mature in their response and reaction to issues and activities involving their opponents. If Uyo were not friendly, the organisers may have moved that event to another state and whatever gains the people made form that event would have been lost.
It is our candid opinion that politicians should see the game of politics as a sports activity-you play it, you win or you lose. But life goes on. Enmity should be the last thing on the card. While we commend the PDP government in Akwa Ibom state for allowing the opposition the freedom to organise such a massive event in their state, we also wish to commend the organisers for being very good and matured visitors.
In the coming days, we encourage political leaders to learn from what happened in Uyo. Nobody should be prevented from holding political events in certain places, especially if the organisers belonged to the opposition camp. The birds should be allowed to perch and the eagles should also be allowed to perch. That should be the spirit. And that is actually in line with the new tribe phenomenon being preached by the Osinbajo campaigners. That way, Nigeria will be a better place for everyone.
