By Funmilayo OLASUPO, Abuja

GOVERNOR of Adamawa State, Vice Admiral Murtala Nyako has described the on going controversy on the eligibility of President Goodluck Jonathan to contest for election  in 2011 as unnecessary, saying only God can decide who becomes the President of Nigeria.

Governor Nyako who spoke yesterday through his Chief of Staff, Alhaji Bello Tukur in an event organised by a group called Towards A Greater Nigeria Initiative, in Abuja said that the argument about zoning should be discarded, stressing that it is not a do or die affair for Jonathan to become President in 2011.

He said Jonathan’s emergence in the first place was an act of God, adding that Nigerians should not allow the current argument on zoning to degenerate into crisis.

He said, “In election years, things happen the way they are happening now which is not abnormal. People try to seek means to take advantage of the President that is in power, but we should also know that President Jonathan did not come through anybody’s effort, it was Allah that made it so.

“I don’t think for him to become   President of Nigeria is a matter of life and death. He is a President already and it is only God that can make one a President.”

Earlier in his welcome address, the National Secretary of the group, Mr. Samuel Umoh said it is unfortunate that Nigeria is still divided along ethnic and religious lines almost 50 years after becoming a sovereign nation.

He lamented that good leadership qualities are being sacrificed daily for ethnicity and tribalism.

“It is unfortunate that on the eve of 50th year anniversary of our independence, we are still speaking different languages, we are still talking about the South-South, North-East, South West and so on. Every living Nigerian should be concerned about the development of the country, and not about who comes from where”.