Kogi State Assembly member representing Okene 1 Constituency, Hon. Lawi AT Ahmed has for the umpteenth time urged Nigerians to have faith and remain steadfast in promoting peace and unity no matter the challenges.
Hon. Lawi, in a goodwill message to Nigerians to mark this year’s Independence anniversary, said the indivisibility
of our nation is not negotiable because there is no better place than Nigeria.
Hon. Lawi recalled the nation’s chequered political history since 1960, during which Nigeria went through 30
months old fratricidal civil war, various ethno-religious conflicts and assured that our crisis are surmountable.
Hon. Lawi dismissed as untrue the insinuation in some quarters that Nigeria has not made progress, since independence saying “let us cast our minds back a little and see the number of road networks, schools, universities, health institutions, telecommunications and a host of others.
“We may not have been where we want to be but we have made appreciable progress and we can do more. All we
need to do is to strengthen our unity as one people with one mission and purpose. The stable democracy has offered us opportunity to harness our abundant resources for good.
“Nigeria has passed through many challenges in the past and we came out of it. The security challenges; can be defeated if we unite to fight them.
“I believe the Boko Haram, terrorism or insurgency is alien to us as a people. We have the capacity to defeat them and confined them to the dustbin of history.
He promised that genuine complaints and agitations among Nigerians arising from the structure of our polity can be
addressed by government but was quick to point out that “we cannot correct perceived imbalances by taking up arms
against our brothers, sisters and nation.
“We must therefore continue to shun individuals or groups that encourage, preach and practice division among our
people. We must shun every harbinger of hate and bound together as a people of common interest and destiny.
“As legislators we will continue to do our part to wit; provide the needed legislative framework for the Executive Arm of Government to continue to deliver of the dividends of democracy to our people.
“Let me use this occasion to commend our fellow country men and women over the past election as we practice our Civil rights in peace, and we must not lose sight of the fact that election should not be seen as war. We must play the game according to the rules.
To Politicians, Hon. Lawi advised “As Stakeholders, we must therefore restrain ourselves from inflammatory and
treasonable statements or actions. Our collective or individual ambitions are subordinate to the national interest.
We must therefore, always consider the primacy of our national interest. Afterall, it is a trite fact that for us to even
actualize our various political visions, our nation must first exist.”
