Insecurity, bad governance, nepotism bane of Nigeria’s unity —Atiku, Udom

“Nigerians are trapped in the net of poverty, insecurity, backwardness and bad governance.  The only way for Nigerians to get out of the trap, is to unite, flap their wings together and fly away from the danger zone,” Atiku,the 2019 Presidential Candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP,  said.

Atiku, who was the guest of honour at the National Lecture organized by the Arewa Media and Development Forum, spoke at the Arewa House Kaduna, yesterday, 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.

“All Nigerians are equal and suppose to be treated equally, therefore, unity is not about homogeneity but it is by accepting the diversity in differences between us, not using this differences as a yardstick in judging others.  This kind of unity cannot be achieved by accident,  there must be strategic efforts to promote unity.

“Research has pointed out the three primary sources of lack of unity in Nigeria.  For religious differences, we have to accept that it is not possible for the whole world to embrace one faith and it is not our choice the faith we practice, the only thing we can do is to accept that others have different faith and that is how God designed the world to be, and it should not be the basis for our socialization and politics

“Language is another primary source of disunity, that is why I recommend a national law to mandate every Nigerian to speak one more language from another region of the country, so we can connect and appreciate things we share in common.

”I remember this was introduced during one of the military regimes but along the line, that was lost in implementation. People easily associate and like others who speak their language. Language is one of the strongest sources for unity, we should have policy to mandate public servants, youth corps members to learn one more Nigerian language from the region other  than the one they hail from.  That way, we can strengthen our unity.

“It is only through unity 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. We can only escape if we work together and its just like a story of Pigeon in the ancient world.

“Unity is your strength, as long as you stay united, no harm can come your way. ’’