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National unity, Nigeria’s biggest challenge – Osinbajo

 

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday said the most significant challenge the nation was facing today was on national unity.

Osinbajo stated this at a one-day National Unity Conference organised by the Alumni Association of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies in Abuja.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the theme of the conference is “Nigeria’s National Unity in the build-up to the 2023 General Elections”.

The Vice President, represented by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, commended the alumni for always coming in to intervene whenever the nation was facing challenges.

He said, “I want to take this opportunity to thank the alumni of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies for always coming in to intervene when the nation is facing challenges and difficulties.

“And they always get it right. Today there’s no doubt that the biggest challenge the country is facing is that of national unity.

“If one listens to the cacophony of voices from the East, to the West, from the North to the South, whether you are talking about challenges, of the disorders, Boko Haram insurgents or the bandits.

“So, bringing us together here to discuss this very, very important matter, especially with regard to the 2023 elections, is timely.”

In his keynote address, the Former Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Martin Agwai, said Nigeria’s unity has been over-centralised to the extent that it reflected more of a unitary arrangement than a federal one.

He added that Nigerians needed to take conscious steps towards enthroning responsive leadership and demanding action against insecurity through every means permissible in a democracy.

“We should start finding a method of selecting who becomes our leader. We should choose leaders that we can hold accountable tomorrow.

“And must we practice democracy in the way it is today? Let us see how we can have an inclusive democracy, and how we can select leaders that we are comfortable with.

“For a nation to have stability and development, it must transform and reduce the threats to its national security,” he said.

On his part, the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola said, “there is a gap in our assessment of the country’s situation.

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