NIGERIA AT 57: AMCON EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR MAKES CASE FOR UNITY

LAGOS, Nigeria – A top official of Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) has called on all Nigerians to eschew all forms of bitterness, embrace one another and join hands to build the Nigeria of our dream.

Executive Director, Operations, Mr. Aminu Ismail, who stood in for Mr. Ahmed Kuru, Managing Director/CEO made the call at the yearly event organized by AMCON to mark Nigeria’s independence anniversary where he also joined thousands of well-meaning Nigerians to reiterate the fact that Nigeria would be better and more prosperous as a country, if the rich potentials of her diverse cultural heritage were harnessed.

To achieve that, he said this was not the time to sound the drumbeat of agitations or disunity, but a time to pull everyone together in unity to rebuild Nigeria to reclaim its pride of place among the comity of nations. Since charity, as they say begins at home, Ismail called on staff of the corporation and indeed all Nigerians to be good ambassadors and preachers of peace across Nigeria by acting and behaving in manners that promote peaceful coexistence in the country.

Ismail also noted that Nigerians must not lose hope since the current wave of agitations in the country was not peculiar to Nigeria alone going by what is happening elsewhere with Brexit, Spain and Catalonia referendum, Scottish quest for liberation down to America and the many issues of race they currently face.

According to him, it is important that Nigeria and Nigerians avoid the mistake of allowing a few individuals to drag us to the extreme of violent clashes, which does no good to any nation. Expressing optimism that the current wave in the country would make us stronger at the end of the day, he said Nigeria remains one big family irrespective of culture; tribe, religion or political divides that are fueling the current trends.

Going down memory lane, Ismail recalled, “Even before the current agitations, from across the country, we have had in years past the Ife/Modakeke, Umuleri/Aguleri, Hausa/Fulani, Ijaw/Itshekiri, Ezza/Ezilo and Tiv/Tarok clashes, just to mention a few, which we have settled and bonded better as one people. Believe me, we are evolving as a nation and our strength remains in the unity of Nigeria because we have a lot to leverage and develop into a world power when we harness the rich human and natural resources God has blessed us with. Therefore we must not allow ourselves as opinion leaders in our different rights to be misled by a few people that cannot see the bigger picture of a united Nigeria. This for me is food for thought for all of us as we celebrate Nigeria’s 57th Independence Anniversary.”

Every year, AMCON celebrates Nigeria’s independence with series of events and programmes that create bonding and expression and display of the cultural diversity of Nigeria through pep-talk from senior officials of the Corporation, traditional delicacies from across Nigeria, drama sketches and cultural displays amongst others. The theme for this year’s edition was “Unity in Diversity.”