Atiku warns against taking Nigerians for granted

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has warned political leaders against taking Nigerians for granted.

Atiku said it would be wrong to take the citizens’ resilience for granted even as the country marks 100 years of amalgamation. He said Nigerians needed to pat each other on the back for their ability to live together for so long.
In a statement in Abuja on Wednesday, the ex-VP said the country’s leaders should redouble their efforts toward building a stronger and more united Nigeria rather than concentrating energies on division or breakup.

He said, “To me, it is regretful that more than 40 years after the unfortunate and devastating civil war the country went through, leaders could still be busy playing the ethnic and religious cards to gain power while poverty, unemployment, hunger and disease continue to ravage our people, leading many to venture into illicit and sometimes violent activities in order to provide for their families.

“True leaders must at all times shun the temptation of taking Nigerian’s perceived resilience for granted.

“Rather than being a source of weakness, diversity remains a major challenge to which all Nigerians must be sincerely committed.

“My message to fellow countrymen and women as we mark this landmark occasion is that we should not take our unity for granted or push our luck too far.”

He described as dishonest the calls for renegotiation of the country’s existence as one and asked those clamouring for such to reconsider their stand.

He said, “The recent clamour by some of Nigeria’s leaders for a renegotiation of the continued being of Nigeria is dishonest and an unnecessary distraction from the future that we can build.

“Such leaders need to be concentrating their efforts on tackling the challenges ranging from lack of security to addressing poverty and unemployment through infrastructural investments.

“The victims of structural ineptitude are not distinguished on the basis of their ethnicity, tribe, religion or region. It is also a truism that both the perpetrators and their victims are Nigerians, and secession will not fix these woes.”

Abubakar opined that if the country’s leaders could devote more energy on dealing with the basic challenges facing the ordinary Nigerians, ethnic and religious differences would be relegated to the background and that people would be able to focus more on the economic and social opportunities available to them.

He said once the citizens were contented through the availability of opportunities granted by good governance, these dividing lines would gradually become symbols of Nigeria’s unique composition, driving progress through a collaboration of perspectives and ideas.