Conference won’t stop Nigeria’s break-up – Bishop

Rt. Rev. Peter Adebiyi (retd.)

Retired Bishop of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Lagos-West Diocese, Rt. Rev. Peter Adebiyi, has faulted those who do not want the proposed national conference to lead to Nigeria’s break-up.

He said there are several indications that the nationalities in the country are living together under duress. He said this was evident in the high level of religious intolerance being experienced, which was reflected in politics.

Adebiyi, who spoke on the state of the nation in Lagos on Saturday, said it would be suicidal for him to walk in some places in the North in his robe without being attacked for being a Christian.

He noted that such would not occur, if he goes to the North as a foreigner. He said if he was killed as a foreigner from Yorubaland, there would be diplomatic row but if he was killed as a Nigerian, only his family would bear the loss.

He identified the born-to-rule mentality of some northerners as one of the causes of the crises in the country. “An average northerner believes that he was born to rule Nigeria and that is the essence of the conference we are talking about,” he said.

Adebiyi said, “Sometime, when I see people speak about one Nigeria, I remain silent because I know that Nigeria is not one. We have an agglomeration of nations in Nigeria. I will only go to where I’ll be tolerated.

“It is only those who are after money; those who are selfish that say we are a country. How do I call where I’m not wanted my own? Everything is a deceit; Nigeria is a country of great deceit.

“It is time for every one of us, if this conference is real, to say that ‘this is what we want.’ If we cannot live together, why can’t I go home? What is wrong, if I say I’m going home?”

The retired bishop blamed the failures of the countries anti-graft agencies on lack of political will by the government. He said they were driven politically.

He stated that it would be difficult for the head of an anti-graft agency appointed by the President to investigate the President, if indicted.

The bishop said, “I was a member of the Code of Conduct Bureau at its inception in 1988; eleven of us were members. I was there for 20 years until few years ago. I cannot say what my eyes saw. At a point, the bureau became a god that cannot bite because the setup was good but the operating value was bad.”