Don’t take Nigerians for granted, Atiku tells FG

Posted on January 2, 2014 Updated on January 2, 2014

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has told
the Federal Government not to take Nigerians
for granted.
He said it would be wrong to take their
resilience for granted as the country marks 100
years of amalgamation of the Lagos colony with
the Northern and Southern Protectorates by the
British Colonial occupier forming one country,
Nigerians needed to pat each other on the back
for their ability to live together since.
He said in a statement in Abuja on Wednesday
that Nigeria leaders should redouble their
efforts towards building a stronger and more
united Nigeria rather than concentrating
energies on division or breakup.
He, therefore, appealed to those calling for the
breakup of the country to responder their
stand, adding that those making the call were
dishonest in their attitude.
He said, ”The recent clamor by some of
Nigeria’s leaders for a renegotiation of the
continued being of Nigeria are dishonest and an
unnecessary distraction from the future that we
can build.
“Such leaders need to be concentrating their
efforts on tackling the challenges ranging from
lack of security to addressing poverty and
unemployment through infrastructural
investments.
“The victims of structural ineptitude are not
distinguished on the basis of their ethnicity,
tribe, religion or region. In is also a truism that
both the perpetrators and their victims are
Nigerians, and secession will not fix these
woes.”