Ex-Nigeria Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has said that unity, diversity and national development were among country’s greatest challenges.
Atiku who stated this while speaking in Abuja during the public presentation of the Daily Stream newspaper, added that Nigeria is at a crossroads and things are made worse
His words,“Unity has been a scarce commodity among our country’s diverse peoples and communities, as a consequence of the way and manner the country was put together by British colonial authorities and our collective failure as a people to create a true and viable nation out of the union.”
He said his has become a major source of disquiet, anxiety and frustration and a veritable obstacle to national development.
According to him,disagreements and controversies over the best political structure to be adopted, size and responsibility of government, the nature of relationship between and among component units, the type and system of government, as well as how resources available in and accruing to the country should be allocated have continued unabated.
Atiku said further that those controversies have sometimes threatened the very existence of the country, adding that a huge pall of pessimism hangs over a section of the citizenry, while the ranks of those who harbour real doubt about the future of the country swell by the day.
He said despite the challenges, he still has a strong belief in Nigeria, saying he remain unshaken and completely persuaded that we can eventually change the story of Nigeria for good by collectively making Nigeria a productive, prosperous, peaceful and united nation whose people are happy and contented and one that is able to really lead Africa and assume a pride of place in the comity of nations.
