Former Military Head of State and elder statesman, General Yakubu Gowon (retd), has warned that any form of provocation capable of leading to another civil war, would eventually rip the country apart.
Gowon who was head of state during the 30-month civil war between 1967-70, said the country is still recovering from the effects of the last civil war, and warns that he won't be a party to another war should the current agitations and poor handling of the challenges degenerates into another war.
He stated this at a public lecture, entitled, “Rejigging the security architecture: imperatives for the second line of public safety: the Nigerian peace corps perspectives”, organised by the Peace Corps of Nigeria as one of the programmes lined up to mark its 23 years.
Speaking on Saturday through his representative, Major General Chris Abutu Garba (retd), Gowon said, “Our youths as the leaders of tomorrow should take very good note. As leaders of tomorrow, you should be forthcoming and not do anything that is likely to take us backwards.
“Anything that is likely to take us to the harrowing days of the past, I’m not for that. The youths should look up to the future because they are the leaders of tomorrow.”
On the challenges facing the country he said President Muhammadu Buhari is a human being and needs prayers.
“There is no nation in Africa that does not have challenges. Be it economy or security. Countries have challenges and Nigeria is not an exception.
“But again, the challenges are not permanent challenges. After a period of time, it will come to pass as we will have our peace and stability back. We should not get discouraged.
“If I am the President under the challenge of instability, economy and security problems, I will be sad. So don’t forget the President is a human being. The entire country is on his shoulders and it’s weighing him down.
“Instead of confronting him, we should be praying for him. He needs our prayers and that is what I will recommend. Let us pray for our country and the leadership so that they can overcome all these challenges of insecurity, poor economy, terrorism, insurgency and all whatnot,” he said.