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The former Vice President advocates for true federalism.
A former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, said on Monday that Nigeria was at a crossroads but that the road to continued mediocrity was not an option if the country must attain the desired greatness.
He made the assertion at the showcase session of Nigerian Bar Association Annual General Conference in Calabar, the Cross River State capital.
Mr. Abubakar noted that “the path we are currently threading, which is marked by empty promises, avarice, greed and corruption cannot sustain nation building and development.”
He said that “nations are built one brick at a time, one person at a time, people helping people” adding “when people come together to help, rather than hurt each other, the people become the force from which a future is built, and a nation grows.”
The former vice president emphasised that the path to Nigeria’s greatness required honest, experienced and incorruptible leadership, adding that the envisaged greatness would need a sustained focus on economic development, critical improvements of infrastructure and uncompromised security system nationwide.
According to him, as the nation charts its next 100-year course, the desired greatness in the main, would demand putting the dignity, hopes and dreams of Nigerians, especially her youth, first.
Mr. Abubakar, however, assured that “if we put our house in order and decoy from this road to nowhere, the next 100 years may yet be the century of Nigeria’s greatness.”
He advocated the establishment of an enduring democratic platform with a sustainable legitimacy, and for such platform to possess credible internal capacity to produce visionary leaders who will be committed to the public purpose and whose leadership will be informed by the common good and sustained by the popular will of the citizens.
He suggested “the reorientation of the psyche and minds of Nigerians to trust their leaders and love their country, the restoration of community spirit in which everyone is their brother’s keeper and enthronement of a new regime where the allegiance of citizens should be first to the motherland.”
Mr. Abubakar called for the retooling of the structure and quality of government institutions and the resuscitation of the productive capacities of the state to guarantee social and economic welfare of every citizen. According to him, the guarantee should uphold freedom, ensure dignity, and promote fairness and equity of the citizens in the way government functions.
While noting that extreme poverty and environmental damage constituted security issues because they continued to take away human dignity, self esteem and a general sense of hope, the former vice president called for the provision of adequate security for all Nigerians.
According to him, “food scarcity, high youth unemployment, resentment, disillusionment and hopelessness are sentiments and emotions on which insecurity thrives.”
And to overcome these challenges, he proposed comprehensive security, where every citizen must not only be conscious of the collective national interest, but must be willing and happy to defend it on behalf of all.
In tandem with pre-existing differences in social values, aspirations and preferences, he suggested the adoption of a system of true federalism that would guarantee the autonomy of states to develop at their own paces.
To guarantee equity and justice among citizens, the former Vice President proposed progressive reformations and adjudication of the nation’s laws and statutes.
Mr. Abubakar proposed a social policy that would give opportunities to the vulnerable and disadvantaged members of the society to live useful and satisfactory lives.
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