Amid rising ethnic agitations in some parts of the country, the Senate
President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, has called on Nigerians to
tolerate each other and display understanding because there is strength
in unity.
Saraki spoke when the leadership of the Christian
Association of Nigeria (CAN) in the 19 Northern States and Abuja, led by
its Chairman, Rev. Yakubu Pam, visited him at the National Assembly in
Abuja.
In statement by his Special Assistant on Print Media,
Chuks Okocha, the Senate President said: "Let me through you appeal to
all our people for tolerance and understanding. I want to appeal that we
preach tolerance. I believe that it is our responsibility as leaders,
to impress on our people to be very tolerant and let us seek unity.
"We
also wish to appeal to everybody that we should in our speeches and
actions work for the unity of the country, because you made reference to
some of the issues but this is not about who is right or who is wrong,
we should always ask ourselves that what can we do to unite our people
and mend the fault lines.
"This is very important. I am hopeful,
that we are only going through these challenges because of the state of
our economy and I believe by the time the economic recovery plan of the
present administration begins to yield fruits, some of these issues will
fizzle out," Saraki said.
On the economy, Saraki said: "I
believe by the time we address the economy, by the time we get the
economy right, it will eliminate all these tension. Until we get there,
we must make sure that we have a country where we are all working
together.
"Let me assure you that things that are of concern to
you are also of concern to us. And the 8th Senate has shown that in most
of our deliberations, we put Nigeria first. The challenges we have in
Nigeria are not selective as to which part of the country a person comes
from.
"The economic challenges do not discriminate against
Muslims or Christians, nor do they favour Northerners against
Southerners. I think with that, there are lessons. The economic hardship
affect all of us and we must unite to jointly eliminate those
challenges.
"However, we should not lose faith because as
religious leaders your disposition affect will affect your followers.
You must have faith that this country belongs to all of us. We all have
rights. We will ensure that we respect that. We must have faith that
this country will continue to grow from strength to strength. I plead
for your understanding and tolerance," he said.
Earlier, the
leader of the delegation, Rev. Pam, expressed concern over the series of
agitations by some interest groups who are calling for restructuring
and raising allegations of marginalization.
"I heard this morning
that some people are asking some people to leave the Northern part of
the country. This kind of comments and utterances should not be
encouraged," he said.
He further said, "To us, the hour has come
for government to take a second look at the causes of these agitations
so that all sides can be given a sense of belonging in the scheme of
things in the country. We need all hands to be joined together to move
this country forward."
On the frequent clashes between herdsmen
and farmers, Rev. Pam said, "Cattle rearing is a private business and as
such herders should be educated on the modern way of handling their
cattle rearing business so that their cattle should not be let loose
into farms of the locals in different parts of the country in order to
put an end to frequent clashes between the herdsmen and the local
farmers".
The Northern CAN President called on the National
Assembly to pass a law that would guarantee freedom of worship for all
faiths and re-introduction of religious education in the school
curriculum, even as he appealed to the that the Senate to intervene to
stop attacks on places of worship in some parts of the Northern states.
He
also lamented the incidence of forced marriages against under aged
girls, saying, "We want to make an appeal that the Senate should look
into this social problem so that it would not lead to break down of law
and order in some parts of the country especially from those considered
to be victims of this social malaise," he said.
