Nigeria Centenary: Don’t Take Our Unity For Granted Atiku To Nigerians
Former Vice President Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, yesterday urged Nigerians never to take the unity of the country for granted even as he warns against disruption which could obstruct nation’s future prosperity.
In his centenary message to the Nation, Atiku said; ”As we mark the centenary celebration of the amalgamation of the Lagos colony with the Northern and Southern Protectorates by the British Colonial occupier forming one country, Nigerians need to pat each other on the back for we have truly come a long way. However, we must redouble our efforts towards building a stronger and more united Nigeria rather than concentrating energies on division or breakup.
“The recent clamour by some of Nigeria’s leaders for a renegotiation of the continued being of Nigeria are dishonest and an unnecessary distraction from the future that we can build. Such leaders need to concentrate their efforts on tackling the challenges ranging from lack of security to addressing poverty and unemployment through infrastructural investments.
“The victims of structural ineptitude are not distinguished on the basis of their ethnicity, tribe, religion or region. It is also a truism that both the perpetrators and their victims are Nigerians, and secession will not fix these woes.
Rather, if our leaders devoted more energy to dealing with these basic challenges facing the ordinary Nigerians, ethnic and religious differences would have sunk to the background as people are able to focus on opportunities available to them.”
