Former Vice-president Atiku Abubakar in a message marking
Nigeria’s 60th Independence anniversary said the country is mired in a season
of hopelessness.
In the message, titled “Nigeria’s future depends on our
commitment to a common destiny”, he also called for a national introspection
about the state of the nation.
“The structure on which we have hinged our political and
economic emancipation has equally failed us. We do not hope to continue doing
the same thing with jaded and unworkable system and expect to get a remarkable
result.
“We may have missed countless opportunities to reset our
mindset moving forward as prosperous people, but this 60th anniversary of the
life of our nation offers introspection”.
Atiku also called on insurgents to reach for peace, citing
other lands where armed struggle had inevitably led to the peace table.
Read his full statement:
On Saturday, 26 September, 2020 in far away Abu Dhabi,
Israel Adesanya, an illustrious Nigerian, who embodies the indefatigable
Nigerian spirit made the nation proud by successfully defending his UFC
middleweight title. That victory lifted our spirit, and gave us hope in a
season of hopelessness when every index of life and human development in our
country is trending abysmally negative.
Nigerians of all hues are united in the celebration of the
victory of Adesanya. It is our victory. No one cares if he is from Abia or
Zamfara, Rivers or Osun state. Indeed some are wont to adopt Ibrahim or
Omesonma as his name. But what is important is that he is a Nigerian, and his
victory our collective victory.
Truth be told, there are many Adesanyas in every nook and
cranny of our land. They give meaning to our aspirations. Sadly we have failed
them. The structure on which we have hinged our political and economic
emancipation has equally failed us. We do not hope to continue doing the same
thing with jaded and unworkable system and expect to get a remarkable result.
We may have missed countless opportunities to reset our
mindset moving forward as prosperous people, but this 60th anniversary of the
life of our nation offers introspection.
The youths of Nigeria represent the future wealth of the
fatherland and the only way we can tap into them is through quality investments
in education and skills acquisition.
Through the creativity that they inject in their passion,
the excellence of the Nigerian youth is a global signature in diverse fields
notably in sports, as they can be found in medicine, in education, in business
and finance, agriculture, and in our entertainment industry. Indeed they
‘berekete’ in every facet of our life from the rain forest of the south to the
sudan and sahel Savannah of the north and the guinea Savannah of the midlands
of the territories we call home.
We may have failed to take advantage of the power of the
Nigerian youth. But there is something much more significant that their
triumphs teach us a people looking forward to a better future. When they win,
they celebrate Nigeria. Our youth are ready and eager to conquer the world.
What they lack is the leadership to take them through that process.
For Nigeria to work for the millions of its people, and to
be reckoned with as a global competitive force in the nearest future, we must
come up with a development plan that will have our youth at the centre of the
plan. The times of idle, lame promises are over! We urgently need to build a
new Nigeria where every dream would be embraced and the potentialities of our
youth could be unleashed without the usual fears that have dragged us.
I also call on those who have taken up arms against Nigeria
to have a rethink. Whatever differences they may have with the rest of Nigeria,
whether religious, ethnic or political: terror, violence and separatism are not
the way. Let us learn from history. In Ireland, Israel, and the Balkans, such
groups have seen the wisdom in giving up armed struggle for participation in
the political process.
There is much wisdom in the saying that to jaw jaw is better
than to war war. We must accept the reality that we are all brothers and
sisters sired by our fatherland.
We cannot defeat separatist groups by force of arms alone;
we can only defeat separatism by making all Nigerians feel like they belong.
And this is only possible when we live up to the words of our national motto:
Unity and Faith, Peace and Progress.
As a nation, we asserted our independence in our infancy by
lending to other nations. We must be careful not to lose the hard-won
independence of our heroes’ past. By learning to live within our means, we can
put a stop to the needless borrowings that threaten our economic independence.
Our nation is in dire need of healing. We must foster unity
and douse the tense atmosphere which is breeding feelings of alienation. We
must promote freedom of speech and freedom after the speech.
As such, in the spirit of our 60th Independence Anniversary,
I call on the Federal and state governments, to release all political prisoners
and detainees, and discontinue the prosecution of such individuals. If Nelson
Mandela could reconcile with those who imprisoned him for twenty seven years,
we can reconcile with those who have disagreed with us.
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