Former Vice President of Nigeria, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has said that Nigerians are trapped in the net of poverty, insecurity, backwardness and bad governance in the last few years of democracy.
The 2019 presidential candidate of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), stated this at Arewa House, Kaduna, yesterday, while serving as the Guest of Honour at the National Lecture organised by the Arewa Media and Development Forum.
According to Atiku, the only way for Nigeria to get out of the trap, is to unite, flap their wings together and fly away from what he described as the danger zone.
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.
According to Atiku, It is only through unity that we can surmount and overcome our challenges. We all face a common enemy, we need to fight this common enemy because this enemy will not spare anybody. Our common enemies do not recognize who is from the south of north, Muslim or a Christian, if we stand divided we will be trapped by the enemy”.
Earlier, Governor Emmanuel Udom expressed his worry that the bane of Nigerias unity has to do with nepotism. He noted that there is more diversity than unity among Nigerians nowadays compared to time past when every Nigerian could win an election irrespective of ethno-religious and regional backgrounds.
The governor said, We cannot afford to run a country where some parts of our country feel marginalised or left out of the scheme of things as this is a potent threat to the unity of the country.
We must ensure that there is equity and justice and that no part of the country is made to feel less of itself as this will definitely not augur well for our union.
Hence, many have said we need a more equitable union, where no one feels shortchanged or short-circuited or left behind. A country where everyone seeks livelihood anywhere and everywhere without fear.
We need a nation as a melting pot, where the identities remain but the flavours blend, where, as the first stanza of our former National Anthem so emotionally enjoined: though tribe and tongue may differ, in brotherhood we stand”, he declared.
