President Muhammadu Buhari has described national leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu, as a known advocate of unity and cohesion in Nigeria.
President Buhari who stated this during the colloquium organized for Asiwaju Tinubu on his 69th birthday virtually noted that notwithstanding the nation’s diversity in ethnicity, culture, language, and religion, Nigerians are better and even stronger together.
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Speaking at the12th Bola Ahmed Tinubu colloquium virtually,Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, said the event provides a golden opportunity to “increase the numbers of a new tribe of Nigerians,” which he described as “a tribe of men and women of all faiths, tribes, and ethnicities, committed to a country run on high values of integrity, hard work, justice and love of country,” The Vice President noted that despite the various socio-economic challenges worsened by the fallouts of a global pandemic, he urged Nigeria to avoid stoking tendencies, viewpoints, and opinions that threaten the federation and the nations unity.
The Vice President explained that the Colloquium, which is being hosted in Kano – outside Lagos or Abuja for the first time – was a pointer that Nigeria’s diversity is better harnessed as strength to further unite Nigerians and commended the Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, for hosting the colloquium.
Dignitaries who attended the Colloquium, chaired by President Buhari, include President George Weah of Liberia; and former President of Sierra Leone, Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma. Also present were various state governors, ministers, and senior government officials.
The keynote address was delivered by Prof. Dan Rodrik, a Professor of International Political Economy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University; while the panel discussion was moderated by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyema.
The panelists included President Weah; Dr. Koroma; Mohamed Yahaya, Resident Representative, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); Amaka Anku, Practice Head, Africa Eurasia Group, Washington DC; and Nimdir Nansoh, Founder/CEO, HoP Africa
The theme of the colloquium is “Our Common Bond, Our Common Wealth: the imperative of national cohesion for growth and prosperity”.
(Editor:Abaje Usekwe)
