Ex-President Goodluck Jonathan says Nigeria would have been a better place to live if the country’s leaders had followed the example of the late Solomon Lar and other like-minded politicians.

“If we had continued in the same political trajectory promoted by the likes of Chief Lar in the second and third republics, our country would have been better off in terms of our unity, peace and pace of development,” said Mr Jonathan, at the public presentation of a book ‘Chronicles of the Rainbow’, and the inauguration of the Solomon and Mary Lar Leadership Institute, in Abuja on Thursday. “Chief Lar offered love in place of bitter and divisive politicking, built bridges to cement the cracks in our unity and showed courage in the face of injustice and military dictatorship.”

The ex-president urged politicians to imitate the political attributes of inclusion, sacrifice and selflessness, which he said the Plateau’s first civilian governor exhibited.

“As we head towards the 2023 general elections, I will urge that we all, as critical stakeholders, whether as candidates or voters, embrace the principles of the late Chief Solomon Lar’s politics of inclusion, bridge-building, unity and accommodation,” Mr Jonathan added.

He recalled that Mr Lar was the only governor from the North in the Second Republic who contested and won an election on the platform of the Nigerian Peoples Party (NPP), a party that had the South as its stronghold.

The former president stressed that Mr Lar’s stance and subsequent victory alone epitomised his character and disposition as a bridge builder and advocate of national unity.

“Sadly, we are now playing the kind of politics that Chief Lar detested. Issues around ethnicity, religious bigotry, hate speech and personal attacks, rather than principles and policies affecting the lives of Nigerians, have continued to dominate political discourses around the country as political parties begin their campaigns,” Mr Jonathan admitted.

He, however, urged “politicians who are seeking to occupy different elective offices across the nation, as well as leaders and promoters of the various political parties to learn from the likes of Chief Solomon Lar, who played politics of sacrifice and selflessness, in the interest of the people.”

(NAN)