By Celestine Okafor Asst. Editor
Posted to the Web: Saturday, October 21, 2006

Gen. Alli also had words of advice to the Ekiti State administrator, Major General Tunji Olurin (rtd).

“The President has taken an urgent and timely step to avert a serious political crisis that would have engulfed the whole country. I think this move is something all of us who are well-meaning in this country should commend the President for. He did not wait for the whole thing there (Ekiti) to degenerate to the level of loss of lives and properties before intervention. The President has acted like a responsible and responsive father of this nation. By this act today (Thursday), he has lived up to his constitutional duty because head or tail, he will take the blame or praises as president of Nigeria as the case may be. I will urge all of us not to see the whole thing from the angle of politics, no. We are now talking about lives and properties and we know the political history regarding this kind of situation.

Something had to be done and early too and I think Mr. President has taken the bull by the horns. I salute him for that. If you recall, we had a near similar situation in Plateau and by providential grace, Mr. President appointed me to tackle the situation and I did my best to restore Plateau to the path of peace and reconciliation. I learnt my own lessons during those six months. Therefore, I commend President Obasanjo for this bold constitutional initiative. On the other hand, I will advise my colleague, General Tunji Olurin who by the grace of God has been appointed to do the same thing I did in Plateau. I will say he should approach his assignment with fear of God. He should be focused on the assignment given to him and that is to ensure peace in Ekiti State. He should be fair to everybody. Sycophants will come in very many guises, but he should seek God’s wisdom and separate the chaff from the wheat.

He should stay within his brief and remain neutral and fair as this serves as pre-condition for successful assignment. He should beware of so-called local power brokers, trouble makers and merchants of mischief. The people of Ekiti must know peace. I have no doubt that General Olurin is equal to the task. I wish him luck and a successful tenure.