Abeokuta- The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Yakubu Dogara, on Saturday called for collective effort in tackling Nigeria’s socio-economic challenges.
Dogara made the call in Abeokuta, Ogun, at a lecture organised as part of programmes for the 75th Birthday celebration of Chief Alani Bankole, father of former Speaker of the house, Dimeji Bankole.
He said that the challenges facing the nation were not novel, adding that many civilised countries had passed through similar situations.
He said that men and women in such countries waged united and formidable wars against the challenges at such critical periods and surmounted them to attain greater heights.
The speaker commended the Federal Government for the measures it had continued to take in ensuring that Nigeria came out of current recession.
He lauded the call by the Governors’ Forum for a declaration of a state of emergency on the economic situation, adding that the National Assembly would come up with its position as soon as it reconvened.
Dogara stressed the need for Nigerians to support the government and be united in tackling the challenges to fast-track the process of economic recovery.
“The challenges are not novel because a lot of countries have passed through them.
“It is always men and women of those generations that have stood up and solved the problems.
“It is our collective responsibility to combat our challenges and I thank God that there is a rallying call from the governors for a national emergency,” he said.
The Guest Lecturer at the event, former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Dahiru Musdapher, expressed regrets that the nation had continued to face more divisions more than a year after the 2015 elections.
Musdapher, who bemoaned the emergence of various restive groups across the country, said that the nation could not afford the cost of another “genocidal implosion’’.
He spoke on the theme “The Question of Nigerian Unity.”
Musdapher observed that tribalism, nepotism, religious bigotry, violence and corruption had made national unity a mirage.
He said the in spite of various mechanisms created to deal with Nigeria’s socio-political ailments, the country’s unity had continued to be threatened, with negative implications for its citizens.
The former CJN noted that it would require a modicum of unity for Nigeria to make necessary policy interventions that would turn its economy around.
He, therefore, called on Nigerians to support the Federal Government in its fight against the challenges facing the nation.
