Emmanuel Preaches Unity in Diversity

Nseobong Okon-Ekong
Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State has expressed the need for Nigerians to remain unity, irrespective of tribal and party affiliations.

The governor made the remarks at the Second Quarter 2018 Forum of Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SFG) with Secretaries to State Governments (SSGs) held in Uyo, the state capital.

He urged Nigerians to use such opportunities to “engender a new conversation in our country,” adding that politicians should see themselves first as Nigerians and later, as politicians.
Emmanuel noted that “Politics and politicians will come and go but the soul, spirit, abiding tenets and values of the Nigerian enterprise will endure.”

He said it was time, “politics of growth and development should be emphasised over politics of attrition, self-destruction and zero-sum game.”
According to him,  “this wonderful and inspiring optics of unity, of bi-partisanship and synergy between different layers of government is what our nation desperately needs at this time of heightened ethno-religious and partisan tensions.”

 “I stand here as a governor elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), hosting the SGF of an administration that is headed by President Muhammadu Buhari of   the All Progressives Party (APC). Seated here are secretaries to the state governments of both the PDP and APC states. What a wonderful celebration of our unity across political divide,” he said.

He also noted that when the conveners of the forum selected his state as the next host at the close of the last edition in Yola, Adamawa State, “they did not look at Akwa Ibom State as a PDP state; they did not see Udom Emmanuel as a die-hard partisan. If they had looked at issues strictly thorough the narrow prism of partisan politics they could have chosen an APC state.”

He commended the SGF, Boss Mustapha for creating the Forum, acknowledging it as a good platform for the best of Nigeria irrespective of ethnic backgrounds or party affiliations.
In the face of current security challenges, Emmanuel said Nigeria needs such a forum to chart a common course for her development.

Governor Emmanuel noted that the theme of the Forum: Improving Access to Social Services at the National and Sub-national Levels, was timely and “summarised the philosophical underpinnings of the Social Contract”.

According to him, government exists to provide service to the people across national and sub-national levels, adding that failure to fulfil this obligation amounts to “a grave abdication of a cardinal responsibility.”

He traced the current state of insecurity plaguing the country, partly to the abdication of responsibilities by government to the citizenry, especially in the area of basic necessities like education.

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