Segun Akanni, Toronto, Canada 
Former President of Nigeria, Dr Goodluck Jonathan has cautioned politicians against playing politics with bitterness and violence.
He charged politicians to instead embrace peace and promote things that would promote nation-building.
Jonathan was quoted to have said this on Friday during a virtual meeting organised by the umbrella body of Ijaw cultural associations, known as the Ijaw Nation Development Group.
This was contained in a statement by his media aide, Ikechuckwu Eze, via an email.
The statement said, “Former President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, warned politicians against politics of bitterness and violence and charged them to forge a common agenda that would promote peace and sustainable development in the nation.
“The former president further urged them to put the interest of the nation first, adding that politics was not about dividing the people and fighting enemies.”
Jonathan was quoted to have said, “To the politicians among us, let us shun politics of bitterness and violence and pursue our common interest, regardless of party affiliations.
“Politics is not about creating and fighting enemies; it is not about dividing the people. Politics is about aspiring for a platform and the ability to utilise it to positively impact our people and develop the nation.
“Irrespective of party differences, let us forge a common agenda that will promote peace, unity and prosperity among our people.
“As a crusader for functional democracy and good governance in our country and continent, I would like to see our people play key roles in the emergence of who leads them and how they are led.
“Nothing drags a people and a nation back more than a social crisis occasioned by the struggle for leadership. We cannot pretend to love our people if we place our personal ambitions over and above everything else and allow it to frustrate the people’s will and our common good.”
