A former military Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, has urged Nigerians to be patriotic and disciplined in confronting the current challenges facing the country.
Abubakar said that for the country to attain greatness, all citizens must work together and contribute their own quota in ensuring good democratic governance.
He made the call while addressing newsmen ahead of Nigeria’s 61st Independence Anniversary in Minna on Thursday.
According to him, Nigerians must be carried along through the implementation of people-oriented policies and programmes in all parts of the country.
“For Nigeria to attain greatness, we must become a disciplined society, respect and obey the constitution.
”Every Nigerian is expected to do their best by tolerating one another irrespective of tribe religious, ethnic and political affiliations.
”Nigerians must desist from sabotage and assist the government in its efforts to improve the well-being of the governed,” he said.
The former head of state also called on governments at all levels to discharge their responsibilities by providing infrastructure, adequate power supply and assisting farmers with farm inputs in order to make life easier for the people.
”Nigerians must assist the security personnel with credible information that will enable them to arrest criminal elements living among us so that the security agencies can arrest and deal with them decisively.
”We must imbibe the culture of providing intelligence information to security personnel deployed across the country in the ongoing fight against banditry, kidnapping, and other criminal activities,” Abubakar said.
He urged Nigerians to be alive to their responsibilities by supporting government policies and programmes, especially in the area of security, by exposing criminal elements in their midst.
Abubakar said that it was only by doing so that the present administration would be able to tackle and deal with the present economic situation and security challenges.
He also called on Nigerians to learn to live in peace with one another irrespective of tribe, religious, ethnic and political differences for the overall
development of the country.
Abubakar said that Nigeria had evolved through a long history which began as a region, expanding to additional regions up to the current 36 states and the FCT.
He also appealed to the Nigerian media to be objective in their reportage of happenings in the country for peace, progress and political stability.
