Kano State Governor, Abba Yusuf, has said the “construction of our nation cannot rely solely on Abuja, Lagos or Kano but will flourish when the North and South recognise each other as partners rather than adversaries.”

He submitted yesterday at the summit in Lagos on “Democracy, Good Governance and Sustainable Development: Rebuilding a Fractured Nation,”organised by the Nigerian Human Rights Community (NHRC), where he was the special guest of honour.

Yusuf also proposed the establishment of a “Bridge of Trust Initiative” between northern and southern states, comprising joint youth innovation hubs, inter-state student exchanges, and a collaborative platform for civil society to mediate disputes before they escalate.

He urged participants to have the conviction that justice is not an adversary of peace but a pathway toward it, adding that where fairness prevails, harmony would follow, while where there is harmony, progress will ensue.

The governor stated that Nigeria is not beyond repair, but that it is too valuable to take risks with, asserting that the time to rebuild is now.

Represented by his Commissioner for Transport, Haruna Dederi, the governor explained that they recognised early in Kano that peace cannot simply be commanded, it must be cultivated and the process is grounded in three fundamental pillars: justice, inclusion, and shared prosperity.

Highlighting the government initiatives in these areas, Yusuf noted that Kano aligned with the principles outlined in the Police Act of 2020, with the administration establishing the first police duty solicitors scheme in the nation, aimed at safeguarding citizens’ rights, and incorporating policies against torture, preventing arrest for civil debts, facilitating free bail, and ensuring mandatory notification of next of kin.

Earlier, the guest speaker, Ayo Opadokun, who spoke on “The Imperatives of Ethnic Harmony Towards Democracy and Sustainable Development: What Is To Be Done ?”, maintained that Nigeria, as a nation of immense diversity, endowed with over 350 ethnic nationalities, multiple faiths and rich cultural traditions, was never meant to be a battleground of suspicion, division, and recurring violence.

He said the nation’s diversity was designed not only by the colonial Great Britain, but also by providence to be a source of strength, innovation, resilience, and shared prosperity.