South East breaking News
State Of The Nation: Voices Of Reason Drowning Rapidly, Abdulsalami Warns
Former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, has sounded the alarm bells over the security challenges in the country saying Nigeria is going through a period of trial amidst growing tension and resentment.
“There is anger in the land and the voices of reason are drowning very rapidly,” he noted at the opening of 2-day roundtable put together by Abdulsalami Abubakar Institute for Peace and Sustainable Development.
Present at the roundtable which took place in Minna, the Niger State capital yesterday, were retired generals including two former Chiefs of Defense Staff, General Alani Akirinade and General Martin Luther Agwai.
Others are General Ishola Williams, Major General IBM Haruna, Brigadier General Haliru Akilu and Brigadier General Samuel Ogbemudia.
Also at the event were former Minister of External Affairs, Professor Bolaji Akinyemi; former Nigeria’s Permanent Representatives to the United Nations Professor Ibrahim Gambari; Professor Auwalu Yadudu and Professor Ango Abdullahi, Ambassador Yahaya Kwande, former Military Governor of Rivers State and the Amanyanabo of Twon Brass in Bayelsa State, Alfred Papapreye Diete-Spiff and Emir of Minna, Alhaji Umar Farouq Bahago.
“This roundtable is the centre’s contribution to the search for solutions to some of the problems we are currently experiencing as a nation, particularly issues and matters around co-existence and security,” the former Head of State said in his opening remarks.
Abdulsalami said the situation in Nigeria today requires that elders who the nation puts so much value on and leaders must stop it from total collapse.
“We are all here as Nigerians who share responsibility for the state of our nation.
Therefore, if any forum can help in accurate identification of the problems and solution for a united and peaceful Nigeria, let us be counted as one of such fora,” he said.
He said the participants are carefully selected, adding that everyone invited is eminently qualified and represents interests and perspectives of the nature of the issues as well as the solutions needed to resolve same.
He said the roundtable is the centre’s contribution to the search for solutions to issues and matters around coexistence and security.
He also informed that the outcome of the meeting would be made available to the federal and state governments as well as other institutions for consideration and action, even as he said that the roundtable was neither a mini national conference nor a forum to review the country’s constitution.
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