Durotoye, Igenegba task Nigerians to unite for nation building
14 December 2024 |
3:02 am
Nigerians have been urged to unite and pursue the common purpose of bequeathing a better country to the next generation. This call was made by speakers and panelists at the Builders’ Summit organised by The Mantle of Deborah Nigeria in Lagos.
Nigerians have been urged to unite and pursue the common purpose of bequeathing a better country to the next generation. This call was made by speakers and panelists at the Builders’ Summit organised by The Mantle of Deborah Nigeria in Lagos.
Speaking on the theme of the summit, ‘Equipping Leaders and Builders for Impact and National Transformation’, the Keynote Speaker, Pastor Fela Durotoye, dwelt extensively on how the founding fathers of the country were able to liberate the country from colonial rule, urging Nigerians to eschew ethnicity and selfish interests to build a new Nigeria.
His words: “What the previous generation did was that they were one people; they spoke with one voice. It didn’t matter who was Igbo, Hausa, Itsekiri, Urhobo or any of those things. They didn’t speak just in the language of their tongues; they spoke in the message of their generation. And then they acted with one vision; there was a vision to have self-governance and it was a goal of independence. They accomplished that task because nothing is impossible to a people who speak with one voice and act with one purpose.
“So, if this happened before, greater things can happen again. But it will only happen to a generation that has four key characteristics.”
While listing the characteristics, Durotoye said the current generation of Nigerians must accept responsibility to build the nation they want to deliver to the next generation.
“We must not be distracted by the nation that we have been given but must be focused on the kind of nation they want to deliver; we must believe in our capacity to deliver that great nation. Please understand that there is no generation that is allowed to deal with a problem that is beyond its capacity. We must commit our resources, time and energy to the cause; we must commit to a set of values that will unite us together as a people regardless of which tribe we come from. This is the challenge of our generation,” he said.
Speaking with The Guardian, the Founder of The Mantle of Deborah and Global Convener of the People of Influence Network, Apostle Isi Igenegba, said the summit was organised to build momentum towards the birth of a new Nigeria.
She said: “I believe that Nigeria is in a critical time; even though we are not in an election year or anything like that, there is a momentum in the land that we can ride on to birth a new Nigeria. But it’s not enough to have momentum; there must be education around how this momentum can be converted into change. So, that is why the Builders’ Summit was organised to encourage people in Nigeria who are builders that what they are doing is good; provide knowledge on how they can effectively build and to create a platform where builders can engage with each other.”
She further explained that the summit is all about nation building, saying: “When you think about Nigeria, we don’t have a problem of intelligence; we don’t have a problem of resources. The truth is we just have a problem of how we can take all of that and cause transformation to happen. So, that’s how we came about the theme.” Igenegba said the group has a plan to replicate the summit in Abuja and other parts of the country ahead of the 2027 general election.
According to her, the strategy is to ensure that “by the time we arrive in 2027, we are not the same people who voted years before. We will be more educated, more ready and more empowered Nigerians.”
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