Kolawole Daniel -Abuja
FORMER head of state, General Yakubu Gowon, on Tuesday, urged Nigerians to continue to work for the unity and progress of the country, saying that Nigeria’s unity is not negotiable.
To this end, the former head of state said Nigeria remained a nation and asked those who felt that the country is not a nation to look for another nation of their own.
This is coming just as the Delta State governor, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan, stole the show in Abuja, when it was his turn to receive Leadership Governor of the Year award, for his vision and development of his home state and Nigeria at large.
Uduaghan, who paraded majority of well wishers at the award ceremony, dedicated his award to God and the hard working Delta people.
“I thank God once more for this award which I am dedicating to every hard-working Deltan.
“Whatever we have set up to achieve today can only be achieved if we all, as Deltans, put up a right attitude and the right frame of mind to achieve our goal, which is Delta Beyond Oil.”
The former head of state, in his short speech, said “let us not doubt that Nigeria is a nation, whenever I hear that, it really makes me feel sad and I would say to such people that if Nigeria is not a nation, get out of it and go and choose a nation or live in a nation of your own.”
He tasked citizens of the country, saying “you can do your best, some will accept it, some will reject it, but let us love our country, let us accept our country as a nation and put things right.”
We don’t need constitution review -Fashola
Lagos State governor, Babatunde Fashola, on Tuesday, said “instead of the many constitutional conferences that we have had, what we really need is a conference of values.”
The governor, in his speech at the Leadership conference and awards ceremony in Abuja, maintained that “in order to avoid the truth, we have lived in our own bubble, amending constitution after constitution, as if that was the problem.”
The governor, in his speech entitled, “Rebuilding the nation: lessons from other lands,” added that Nigerians had not experienced the promise of the country, “because our values and moral codes have gone in different directions.
“The ordinary Nigerian will not be as interested in what is written in the constitution, as he will be interested in safety, food, shelter, prosperity, education and work.
“But when we finally agree to look in the mirror, we will see that these things have been denied by our values.”
Fashola added that “if we want change, the elections in 2015 are a good place to start. No amount of ‘stomach infrastructure’ should be sufficient to influence our vote.
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“For me, the next general election is not so much about what the opposition brings as some people have argued.”
