Former Vice President of Nigeria, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has urged Nigerians to uphold unity as a tool to addressing the challenges being experienced in the country.
According to Atiku, Nigerians are trapped in the net of poverty, insecurity, backwardness and bad governance, urging that, the only way for out of the trap is to unite, flap their wings together and fly away from what he described as the danger zone.
The 2019 presidential candidate of the opposition People’s Democratic Party, PDP made the call at Arewa House, Kaduna while serving as the guest of honour at the National Lecture organized by Arewa Media and Development Forum.
Speaking on the theme of the lecture “Unity in Diversity,” as delivered by Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State, the former Vice President said, all Nigerians are equal and are supposed to be treated equally.
“I don’t see any Nigerian as Igbo, Hausa or Yoruba. When I see you, I see you as a Nigerian and I expect the best from you, that is why I didn’t select where I should marry from. I married women from the diverse background because I don’t look at their backgrounds, I only see them as wonderful Nigeria women. My children, have brothers and sisters from different background and that is why I am confident that a strongly united Nigeria is possible, because I made it happen in my family.”
The former VP explained that all Nigerians are equal and are supposed to be treated equally therefore unity is not about homogeneity but it is by accepting the diversity in differences between them.
He argued that, people’s differences should not be used as a yardstick in judging others, instead, strategic efforts must be put in place to promote unity.
The former VP recalled how it was introduced during one of the military regimes but along the line, it was lost in the implementation. “People easily associate and like others who speak their language. Language is one of the strongest sources for unity, hence the need to have a policy to mandate public servants, youth corps members to learn one more Nigerian language to strengthen our unity.”
Atiku said it is only through unity that citizens can surmount and overcome their challenges.
“We all face a common enemy, we need to fight this enemy because it will not spare anybody. Our common enemy does not recognize who is from the south of north, Muslim or a Christian, if we stand divided we will be trapped by the enemy. We can only escape if we work together.”
