Atiku: Why I’m confident a united Nigeria is possible

Atiku Abubakar, former vice-president, says strategic effort is needed by the government to promote unity in the country.

The former presidential candidate said Nigerians should be treated equally no matter their background or where they come from.

Atiku said this on Thursday at a lecture in Kaduna state.

“I don’t see any Nigerian as Igbo, Hausa or Yoruba. When I see you, I see you as a Nigerian and I expect the best from you,” he said.

“That is why I didn’t select where I should marry from. I married women from the diverse background because I don’t look at their backgrounds; I only see them as wonderful Nigeria women,” he said.

“My children have brothers and sisters from different background and that is why I am confident that a strongly united Nigeria is possible because I made it happen in my family.

“All Nigerians are equal and supposed to be treated equally; unity is not about homogeneity, but by accepting the diversity in differences between us. This kind of unity cannot be achieved by accident; there must be strategic efforts to promote unity.

“Language is another primary source of disunity; that is why I recommend a national law to mandate every Nigerian to speak one more language from another region of the country, so that we can connect and appreciate things we share in common.

“Our common enemies do not recognise who is from the South or North, Muslim or a Christian. If we stand divided we will be trapped by the enemy. We can only escape if we work together.

“Unity is your strength; as long as you stay united no harm can come our way. Just like the pigeons we are all trapped in the net of poverty, insecurity, backwardness and bad governance and the only thing that can save us from this trap is unity.”