Take The Lead In Finding A Lasting Solutions To Nigeria’s Problems, Atiku Tell State Governors
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has called on state governors to take the lead in finding lasting solutions to Nigeria’s problems by convening what he calls a National Unity Summit of all Nigerian governors to iron out the thorny issues affecting the destiny of the nation.
Abubakar said he understands why some state governors met recently and the wisdom of their decisions, but that “no matter how much you try to clap with one hand, the vibrations will not be the same as when you clap with two hands.”
Nigeria’s problems, he stressed, were created by people with regional mindset and cannot be solved by people with similar mindsets.
In a statement he personally endorsed on Sunday, entitled: “Nigeria Is Drifting: We Must Stop Waiting for Godot,” the former vice president noted that Nigeria is not just drifting politically and economically, but the people are also drifting apart from each other.
“I have often said that the difference between us is not North and South, but between good and bad. Therefore, those who are good should come together to show those who are bad that we are in the overwhelming majority,” he said.
He regretted that terrorism, abduction, banditry and other criminalities that are fast consuming Nigeria are “un-Nigerian,” and that if these tendencies are addressed immediately and dispassionately at a national level, there would not be any need for Nigerians to congregate at a regional or sub-regional level to address the same issues.
“What our present challenges therefore call for is not fragmentation but concentration. We must concentrate and focus our national willpower and resolve towards fighting these un-Nigerian tendencies.”
The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party for the 2019 elections said: “For too long, we have erroneously thought that the power to make effective changes lies at Aso Rock. But without the states, nobody can get to Aso Rock. That is why for anyone to emerge as President of Nigeria, he or she must secure enough votes in two-thirds of the states that make up the Nigerian federation.
“Let us apply this wisdom to our present challenges. I call on Nigerian Governors to stop waiting on Abuja to make changes, and instead convene a National Unity Summit of all Nigerian Governors to iron out the thorny issues affecting the destiny of our nation until they figure out a way to resolve them.
“Forget about your party. Forget about your tribe. Respect your religion and allow it to bring out the better part of you. Meet together. Talk together. Come up with the solutions to all our collective challenges.
“And then go back to your states, and consult with your federal and state legislators, with a view to getting them to work with their colleagues to implement the solutions you came up with.
“That is how to save Nigeria.”
He said that to keep waiting for the federal government to take the lead and effect the changes that Nigeria needs to stop drifting is like waiting for Godot, and is a luxury the country cannot afford.
Abubakar noted that one in four Africans is a Nigerian and one in seven Black people on Earth is a Nigerian.
Being so centrally placed by God, he said it was Nigeria’s duty to be a beacon of light to the Black World.
“If we succeed as a nation, our successes will resonate beyond our borders. It will give hope to the Black Diaspora and increase the standing of Black people all over the world,” he said.
