The minister of information and culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has called on Nigerians not to allow the current insecurity bedeviling some parts of the country to jeopardize the unity of the nation.
Speaking Thursday via a virtual call at the opening ceremony of 2021 annual General Meeting of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations(NIPR), held at the Command Guest House, Bauchi, the minister said that while he is in support of the calls by some citizens of the country for restructuring and true federalism, what is not acceptable is the calls in certain quarters for secessions.
He assured that whatever challenges the nation is facing today would be surmounted soon.
“The federal government has set in place the necessary machinery to tackle the challenge of insecurity. Therefore, we should not allow today’s challenges whether in the area of economy or insecurity to disunite us.
“I am appealing to the NIPR, which I consider a key stakeholder on national issues to use its powerful platform to work for the unity of this country as that task has never been more urgent than now against the background of discorded voices in the country and calls for seperation.
“I see NIPR as a capable partner in government efforts to douse the tension in the land and hit the drum of unity rather than the drum of war” he said.
Lai Mohammed therefore urged NIPR to raise its voice against those fanning the embers of disunity and discord in the country, saying when a country is not peaceful and secured, there can be no development.
Earlier in his address, the NIPR National President, Mallam Mukhtar Suraju, said that the event is coming at a time that Public Relations is needed more than ever before to redirect the compass of the nation.
According to him, inspite of the great potentials endowed in Nigeria, it is still bedeviled by so many challenges ranging from insecurity and social tension occasioned by mutual mistrust and suspicion amongst others, which he noted are avoidable and unnecessary.
“The fabrics that holds the country together are unwittingly stretched to their limits and the diversity which God has endowed the country for the good of all is being misused and abused.This has made it imperative for us, the public relations family to take up with more consciousness and seriousness, the responsibility managing education, building relationships and deeping cooperate best practices” he said
