Nigeria heading for final implosion, extinction —Dogara

Former Speaker of the House of Reps, Yakubu Dogara has declared that it was obvious that unless Nigerians rise at different levels of leadership to halt the present trajectory, Nigeria will no doubt head for final implosion and eventual extinction.

Yakubu Dogara who delivered a keynote address with the theme: ‘Peace And Development In Nigeria: The Pragmatic Approach’, at a two-day Peace And Development Submit organized by Sultan Maccido Institute For Peace And Development Studies Of The University Of Abuja recently, said that, “As is it, we don’t have to do anything for this to happen. All we need is not to do anything at all” .

The former Speaker who is presently representing Bogoro/Dass/Tafawa Balewa Federal Constituency at the House of Reps added that, “Our hope must be rooted in the story of China, Rwanda, UAE, Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia, etc, which all prove the point that we can turn our ashes into glory and that nothing is impossible. If we don’t give in or give up, something must give in” .

He stressed that, “The stories of those countries are a validation of the saying that every problem comes with its own solution, but it takes only those looking for the solution to find it” .

According to him, “No doubt, it will take leadership for us to replicate those stories and I am happy that so many of us here are stepping up to provide that leadership. The hosting of this submit is a positive indicator that we are prepared, in line with our civic duties, to be up in arms against problems stultifying our development and advancement as a nation”.

Yakubu Dogara stressed that, “It will take the kind of leadership that recognizes that compassion is not tossing a coin at a beggar, it is pulling down the system that produces beggars; leadership that knows that the real problem is what we demand and what we do not demand; Leadership that believes history does not just happen to us, we make history happen; Leadership that knows that not everything that is faced can be changed but nothing can be changed until it is faced”.

He further said that, “I had warned before that in tackling unbridled violence, we must realize that guns do not kill and killing the violent does not necessarily bring peace except the peace of the graveyard.

“We kill with our minds and peace settles first in the mind before it is expressed. So the battle to build a peaceful Nigeria must be a battle for the minds of our people”, he declared.

Yakubu Dogara then advised that, “We must start doing something and speaking up. They may not listen to us but just because they won’t listen to us is no enough reason to quit. We cannot continue to remain mum and aloof and hope that somehow, someday, these radical events and voices will miraculously quieten and not grow louder. Our silence is no longer golden”.

Read also: Forget issues of development for now, let’s focus on uniting Nigerians —Former speaker, Dogara 

He emphasized that, “Every generation in history have had its moment to fight. This is our own moment. This is our Pharaoh and our Red Sea. The odds are stacked against us but we are born and raised for such a time as this. It is our time. Let us stop crying and go to work. We may lose some privileges but we will win history: for fortune itself favours only the brave”.

According to him, “Today, Nigeria is faced with unprecedented crisis so much so that nothing in our history prepares us for such a time as this. We seem to have accepted killings and mass murder as our new normal and so many cold blooded murder of our brothers and sisters do no longer make the headlines in the media.

“As students, lecturers and political leaders, some of us are complicit while the few who have dared to speak up are already outrage – fatigued and have surrendered to fatalism- a feeling that nothing matters anymore. It is like Nigeria seems to be suffering from some kind of God ordained ineluctable fate”, he retorted.

He enthused that, “What we have done before doesn’t matter, all that matters is our present station. As long as we are not actively engaged in seeking for solutions to these intractable issues we are actually, wittingly or unwittingly, actively promoting it”.

By Yemi Kanji, Bauchi…

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