Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Tuesday stated that Nigeria cannot afford another era of bloodshed and sacrifice.
Obasanjo made this remark while speaking at the public presentation of the book “The First Regular Combatant: Brigadier General Zakariya Maimalari” authored by Haruna Yahaya.
The former head of state said calls for a break-up have to die down for the sake of peace.
Commenting on the book, Obasanjo called for concerted efforts to root out political aberrations in the military.
He went on to eulogise the late General Maimalari who lost his life to the 1966 coup.
“Maimalari was a man who was very interested in the welfare of his men during a peacekeeping mission in Congo, a situation that led to him having issues with some few. He was a soldier’s soldier.
“If Maimalari had lived to head the Nigerian Army, to the best of my own knowledge, Nigeria would have been better for it.
“Lesson to be learnt from Maimalari’s death- this country had trained officers who would have been of benefit to this country, but cut out at the prime of their lives, and our lesson should be that this should never happen again.
“To stop the sort of thing that took the life of Maimalari prematurely, all those assisted by political office holders should be eased out of Army so we can have an Army that will be completely free from political aberration.
“And since 1999, I think we have got it right, let us hope that we have got it right and learn the right lessons. Nigeria has had enough bloodshed, sacrifices and Nigeria deserves peace, unity and progress.
And may be the sacrifices of the like of Brigadier General Maimalari be sufficient to give this country peace, development, unity and progress.
