Vice President Kashim Shettima has stressed the need for Nigerians in the northern part of the country to unite to end what he described as the heritage of poverty and destitution in the region.
He called on Nigerians to resist any act capable of leading the nation into anarchy, saying people must learn to tolerate one another and live together in peace to enhance development in all parts of the country.
The vice president stated these in Masaka, Nasarawa State, on Thursday while inaugurating the 5km Masaka-Luvu Road in Karu Local Government of the state. He said it’s easy to cause chaos but difficult to bring back peace. He therefore urged Governor Abdullahi Sule to continue maintaining peace in the state.
Shettima stated, “We have to learn to embrace each other, to tolerate one another and for us in Northern Nigeria, we are all united by our heritage of poverty and destitution. I see no reason why we should be fighting one another instead of collectively fighting poverty, destitution and backwardness in our states.”
According to him, President Bola Tinubu is interested in redefining the meaning and concept of modern leadership, adding, “It is for us in Nasarawa to maintain peace and amity and embrace one another for development to reach us.”
He added, “There can never be peace without development and there can never be development without peace. I was in Plateau State on Wednesday to sympathise with the people of Bokkos and Barikin Ladi Local Governments over the sad tragedy that befell us on Christmas eve.
“As Martin Luther King rightly said, ‘we either learn to live together as brothers or we perish together as fools. It is inconsiderable for any community to be an island unto itself.”
“I want to thank the governor’s fundamentally for maintaining that delicate peace balance. There are agents of destruction and purveyors of death, who are trying to inflame passion in most of the volatile parts of the North but we should resist that temptation to plunge us into a state of anarchy.”
He said the President was committed to the provision of infrastructure across the country, adding, “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has instructed me to convey to the good people of Nasarawa State that his government is poised to address the infrastructural deficit of our society.”
The vice president stressed that by next year, the school feeding programme would take off across the length and breadth of the country.
He added, “It is absolutely essential. This is vitally important and the President has a lot of empathy for those on the lower strata of the society. The President is interested in redefining the meaning and concept of modern leadership. It is for us in Nasarawa to maintain peace and amity, embrace one another for development to reach us.”
Earlier, the governor applauded the vice president for personally accepting to inaugurate the road, adding that it has a lot of history attached to it and that the project was conceived 15 years ago.
He stated, “I want to show great appreciation to Your Excellency because it was only last week that I came to inform you about the historical nature of this road and asked that you come and help us commission it. We had much longer roads and bigger projects but this one is extremely historical because it was indeed the dream of our first civilian governor, Senator Abdullahi Adamu.”
Sule expressed joy that the road was completed during his tenure.
Etsu Karu, Luka Panya Baba, who gave the vote of thanks on behalf of the Nasarawa State Council of Chiefs, commended the state government for the gesture as he promised the full support of his people for the Tinubu-led administration.
Daily Trust reports that dignitaries present at the event included Adamu, who is the immediate past National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress; Senator Ahmed Wadada representing Nasarawa West at the Red Chamber; Justice Sidi Bage Mohammed, the Emir of Lafia and Chairman Nasarawa State Council of Chiefs; Mr Danladi Jatau, Speaker of the Nasarawa State House of Assembly; and members of the state executive council and members of the state House of Assembly.
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