Senate President Bukola Saraki, his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, former Senate President, David Mark, Governors Abiola Ajimobi and Rauf Aregbesola of Oyo and Osun States respectively have urged Nigerians to work towards a united and progressive nation.
In a goodwill message by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Yusuph Olaniyonu, Saraki also urged Nigerians irrespective of creed and tribe to continue to work for the peace, unity and stability of the country.
He also urged leaders – political, traditional, religious and business – to close ranks and implement strategies that would further develop the country as well as increase standard of living.
The Senate President said: “Our togetherness, abundant resources and diversity are our greatest asset. Therefore let us refrain from tendencies that tend to pull us apart.”
Ekweremadu urged Nigerians to be patient and optimistic, assuring the country would surely overcome its challenges.
He said although the nation is bedeviled by myriad of challenges, it would spring back to reckoning as a true giant of Africa and realise the dreams of the founding fathers.
According to him: “The important thing is that Nigeria remains a nation with unbeatable potentials.
“All we need is the right attitude and leadership to translate our potential to greatness.
“Our greatest challenge at the moment is not the economic hardship, biting as it is. Our greatest problem is disunity and disaffection because the country has never been this divided.
“We need a leadership that sees every part of the country as its constituency, irrespective of different political, ethnic and religious leanings.”
In Governor Ajimobi’s message, he appealed to Nigerians not to allow their differences and the challenges confronting the various ethnic nationalities to divide them as members of a united country.
The governor made the appeal in his goodwill message issued in Ibadan on Saturday by his Special Adviser on Communication and Strategy, Mr. Yomi Layinka, on the occasion of the 57th independence anniversary of Nigeria.
While admitting that many things were wrong with the current federal arrangement in Nigeria which, according to him, had put some parts of the country at a serious disadvantage, he, however, said that things could be sorted out in a one and indivisible country.
He said: “It is quite unfortunate that at 57, Nigerians are more divided along ethnic and religious lines than we used to be at independence in 1960. The drum of separation is being beaten now more than ever before.
“Ethnic groups with separatist agenda are springing up on daily basis, while erstwhile brothers and compatriots are taking up arms against one another, with others shouting `To thy tent, O Israel’.
“Right now, many of our countrymen see Nigeria as one alien enterprise from which they are very distant and which has no bearing on their existence. This alienation had led to the series of unwholesome developments which have put Nigeria on the map of violence-ridden countries.
“While it is true that some ethnic nationalities have not fared better under the current federal arrangement, the solution does not lie in the disintegration of the country or issuance of quit notice by one ethnic group to another.
“We are indeed better and stronger together with common aspirations in a united Nigeria.’’
The governor also called for concerted efforts at combating the violence, maiming and wanton destruction of lives and property, all in the name of religious extremism.
“More fundamentally, let us combat the demon of violence and crimes that is posturing as part of our clime. We must wean our country from the hands of this unwholesome tag that is a major disincentive to growth and development.
“We should hold the relative peace in the country very sacred and deepen the confines of peace. We can do this by living peaceably with our fellow men and women and put Nigeria at the centre of our interpersonal relationships,’’ he said.
The governor, while congratulating Nigerians on the occasion, called for more patriotism, resilience and determination on their part to ensure that the country attained greatness.
And from Osogbo, the capital city of Osun State, Governor Rauf Aregbesola sent a congratulatory message to Nigerians.
Aregbesola conveyed the felicitation to Nigerians at home and in the Diaspora in a statement signed by his Media Adviser, Mr. Sola Fasure.
He tasked the people on the need to avoid violence, ethno-religious conflicts and any other behaviour capable of threatening the peace and unity of the country.
He said though the country had witnessed several challenges since independence, it has nevertheless made significant progress in its almost six decades of independence.
Aregbesola enjoined Nigerians to continue to tow the path of peace and always promote positive values that would move the country forward.
The Governor said Nigerians need to wake up to their responsibilities and take their destinies in their hands.
According to him, the era of over-dependency on rent economy foisted on the nation by oil is gradually winding down and, as such, Nigerians should imbibe the culture of hard work and gainful productive activities.
Ogbeni Aregbesola urged all governments at the federal, states and local governments to put 50 million Nigerians to work and where each earn at least N25,000 from real productive value, N1.25 trillion will be generated in the economy every month, a development capable of catapulting the country into a superpower within two decades.
“I congratulate Nigerians and the people of Osun on this year’s independence anniversary and I call on us all to continue to work for the unity of this country.
“Our strength lies in our unity. We should therefore avoid anything that will destroy our unity and corporate existence.
“I urge Nigerians to cultivate the habit of hard work and high productivity in order to create wealth, stimulate national prosperity and the growth of the economy.
“We had experienced the best in crude oil dependency as we are currently living the worst of it. It is obvious now that a mono-economy based on crude oil can no longer sustain us and take us to where we should be as a country. Therefore, diversification and improved productivity should be the driving force to revamp our economy.
“It has become imperative, therefore, for all governments – federal, states and local governments – to fashion out strategies for the active participation of at least 50 million Nigerians in monthly productive activities that will create a new value of N25,000 each. This action alone will guarantee the generation of N1.25 trillion every month.
“If this is realised, Nigeria will certainly be a super power within next two decades. As the hope of the Black race, this is the least we must do now.
“If we move in this direction, I am optimistic that this country will get over its challenges and continue to maintain its place in the comity of nations,” Aregbesola said.
He added that the sacrifices of the country’s founding fathers and all those who brought the country to its present position would not be forgotten.
He concluded that in spite of the problems the country had gone through, there is still a silver lining in the sky, urging that all hands must be on deck in order to take the country to its destined position of greatness.
Packaged by Ojo Peter, Oyedapo Oyewole, Omotoyosi Jesuleye and Mariam Azeez
