Masari charges Nigerians to remain steadfast

Katsina State Governor Aminu Bello Masari has charged Nigerians to remain steadfast in collective resolve to achieve a more progressive and united country.

In a statement issued by his Director General of Media and Publicity, Abdu Labaran, the governor noted that no nation achieves meaningful development whose citizens conduct is constantly in conflict with its aspirations.

“For Nigeria to develop into a country of our dreams, we should make no room for tendencies that would exploit our fault lines and pitch one section against another in needless confrontation.

“As the nation ages, our attitude should reflect the journey that has brought us this far together and reasons behind the journey,” he said.

Masari expressed worry at tendencies to regard the travails of some sections of the country with less concern, saying such attitude was not helpful to the nation’s collective interests.

“In the race towards building a better, stronger and more united nation, we should not allow divisive sentiments to pull the baton out of our hands.“We would do well to realise that whatever affects one part of Nigeria affects other parts and it is in the interest of us all to collectively face any challenge affecting any section of the country, as doing otherwise will only give room for the challenge to envelope the whole country.

“Banditry and other security challenges have nothing to do with politics, religion or ethnicity, because criminality neither knows, nor respects boundaries. Let us first save the country before we go into politics because there has to be a country before governance. ”

“Let us also put our different tongues and creeds aside and confront our challenges as Nigerians,” he stated.Masari particularly took exception to the profiling of entire ethnic or religious groups on account of the infractions of a few of its members, saying such attitude only fuels disharmony in society.“We cannot castigate a whole tribe or religion or region because one or two of its members are involved in some criminal activities, that amounts to injustice,” he added.