On Thursday, President Muhammadu Buhari made a heartfelt appeal to Nigerians to be tolerant of one another and embrace peace after visiting the Kigali Genocide Memorial in Rwanda.
The President inspected the Memorial’s permanent exhibits and lay a wreath at the mass graves where more than 250,000 genocide victims were interred.
He also paid tribute to the victims’ memories and prayed for the survivors’ recuperation.
Following the historic visit, the President informed journalists that the lessons from his visit were the need for Nigerians to continue to be tolerant of one another, as well as the nation’s own historical antecedents from the Nigeria Civil War (1967-1970).
‘‘I went through all the experiences from 15 January 1966 to date. I was a Governor, Minister, and Head of State and went through detention. I returned to partisan politics and will finish my two-terms as constitutionally allowed.
‘‘We fought a 30-month bitter civil war and we killed about a million of each other. Nigeria went through this kind of terrible development process,’’ he said.
Before leaving, the President wrote in the visitors’ book:
‘‘Remembering the victims of this dark history of the Rwanda Genocide, we pray that humanity will never experience this kind of hatred, wickedness and violence toward others because of their ethnic background, religion, and beliefs.
‘‘Nigeria is strongly committed to the prevention of mass atrocity anywhere in the world and believes that perpetrators of such crimes; and their enablers, anywhere in the world must be held accountable.’’
President Buhari is now in Kigali, Rwanda, for the 26th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).
On Thursday, he will hold bilateral talks with Rwandan President Paul Kagame and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, before attending the official opening of the CHOGM on Friday, followed by high-level meetings of Heads of State and Government.
Femi Adesina
Special Adviser to the President
(Media & Publicity)
June 23, 2022