NIPR expresses belief in Nigeria’s unity, plans national summit on peace

The National Institute for Public Relations (NIPR) says Nigeria is too strong to disintegrate despite the rising insecurity and developmental challenges the county is facing.

Ike Neliaku, national planning committee chairman of NIPR’s citizen summit for national integration, peace, and security, said this during a press conference in Abuja on Friday.

The NIPR’s citizen summit initiative said the findings from a national survey it conducted showed that most Nigerians want to remain united.

Neliaku explained that since the committee’s inauguration on July 12, 2021, it has visited parts of the country to consult, dialogue, meet, and brainstorm with different sections of Nigerians on the “heated issues of our nationhood.

“The outcome of our consultations and deliberations appear very clearly that a greater percentage of Nigerians believe in preserving the integrity of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“The question that we have to ask ourselves is: ‘if Nigerians want to stay together, if Nigerians love Nigeria, if Nigerians will want Nigeria to remain, what then is the problem?’

“Our findings revealed that if certain issues that have formed the fundamentals of agitations across the country are resolved, Nigerians will prefer to live together as Nigerians.

“If matters that have caused certain misconceptions, misunderstanding and distrust, are taken care of by leadership across board, Nigerians will prefer the option of staying together and building a strong, viral and formidable nation in Africa.

“From our findings, the NIPR believes that Nigeria is too strong to disintegrate and we as professionals are committed to making the Nigerian project work”.

Neliaku asked Nigerians to join hands together with NIPR and its partners to support the summit as one way of resolving the country’s issues.

“The NIPR has offered her platform being a very credible, non-partisan, neutral organization whose mandate is to promote relationship building, relationship mending, reconciliation, and so on.

“Our various committees have turned out a clear pathway which can give us what we desire to have in rebuilding the process of our nationhood.

“This is not an event, it is a process. Therefore, we are starting in October from the state, through the state consultative fora, to the zones, for the zonal dialogue series, then come to the nation’s capital for the national summit which will be in November.”

Neliaku further said NIPR is partnering with over 39 different organizations across the country, including women and youth groups, adding that it will offer solutions plaguing the nation.