Former Attorney General of the Federation, Chief Kanu Agabi, has stated that Nigeria is better off united.
He noted that all the problems bedeviling could be surmounted if the people are united.
Agabi, who stated this on Tuesday in Uyo, during the 2022 National Conference on Forum of Former Deputy Governors of Nigeria with the theme, “Nation Building in Challenging Times,” noted that Nigeria is also in a dire need of a radical change and urged the people to be the agents of that change.
The former minister, who was the chairman on the occasion, admitted that problems in Nigeria are inexhaustible even as he urged the people not to be deterred but to work together in tackling these issues as they arise.
According to him, “It is a good thing that we continue to make these efforts at helping the nation to overcome the distresses and disasters that now befall us. We must unite, and I am happy that here in this hall, you have people from the North, from the East, the West, the South, together bonded by the fact that you are former deputy governors,
“There will never be a time in this country where we will never have problems, we will always have problems, there will never be a time when there will be no injustice, there will always be injustice. There will never be a time when people will be totally and completely none violent, we will always suffer violence but that will not separate us.
“We are one people, and we are better off united and my hope for this nation is that a day is coming when this nation will bring together the nations of Africa together, so we are talking about a United States of Africa. Divided, we cannot stand, united we stand,” he stated
“We are a good people, we are a competent nation, we are a nation of geniuses. We are very patient, very resilient, very intelligent, very hardworking. Of course we have a problem with leadership. It is very difficult to rule a nation like that but we can overcome even that and we proceed with hope. We are not to resort to methods of despair.”
Also speaking, the Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Mr Udom Emmanuel m, who was the special guest of honour, said with the election of a competent leader as a president in 2023, Nigeria’s problems would be addressed.
The governor said Nigeria does not need a self-aggrandised leader or one who has vowed to be President by all means before he dies.
His words, “Issues confronting Nigeria are very surmountable. It would always take a leader to emerge somehow, somewhere, and things could change, and I believe in Nigeria.
“We know that this thing could change if in 2023, we elect a leader who has the love for the people, who knows what to do, an action to take, and what to actually carry out, that’s all that we need, and this situation can be remedied.
‘It would be a tale of woes if in 2023 we don’t even know we are in challenging times as a country. We are looking for a leader, not someone who is on self aggrandisement, not somebody that has sworn that when I come to the earth, I must be a President before I die,” he stated.
In a keynote address, Prof. Audu Gambo of Karl Kumm University, Joszm, said politics should seek to promote common good and not targeted at pursuing sectional interest or goods that are diametrically opposed to collective goods of Nigerians.
He said there should be adequate funding for education, health infrastructure and physical infrastructure to drive the process of national development.