By Chimezie Godfrey
The President-General of Ebira People’s Association (EPA), Dr. Adeiza Musa Abdulrahman has identified unity as key and panacea for socio-economic and political development and called for the unity of Ebira people.
Speaking during a one-day interface held in Abuja Thursday, Abdulrahman said that disunity among Ebira people had been the reason why they have not been able to maintain or build on the achievements of their forbearers.
He added that incompetence, selfishness and mediocrity which had been institutionalized in the people’s polity had consequences on Ebira people as a race.
“For far too long we have inflicted and nursed a wound of division on our community to the extent that our discordant voices became too feeble for the audible attention of the wider world. The need to forgive ourselves to forge unity towards our sociopolitical development cannot be deferred further. We have to close the fingers to achieve a strong punch. Tomorrow will rather be too late as the world has far too gone.
“This is the reason why you are all invited here today to put heads, eyes and hands together to search for our strands of unity and braid them together as a pillar for our sociopolitical development,” he said.
Also speaking, the Dean of Post Graduate School of Nigeria Defense Academy, Prof. Ahmed Adam Abere urged the people to subdue individual interest and work together for unity.
“There should be clear commitment to unity in Ebira land, which must be backed by stern actions that deter acts of hatred and violence against any group in our community. It is vital to take firm measure to defuse communal emotions to ensure unity,” he stressed.
Prof. M.S. Audu said that to be able to build enduring peace and unity among Ebira people towards the 2019 election and beyond, certain things needed to be done to educate and empower the people.
These, according to him, include “rehabilitation of primary and secondary schools, genuine effort towards the revival and completion of the Ajaokuta Steel Complex and decentralization of Kogi state University.
Real Admiral Anthony Isa said that people should learn to do things themselves and not rely on government for everything.
“Don’t wait for government for solution to your challenges. Government is not the solution in solving all our problems. The Ebira people are the problem themselves,” he asserted.
Kogi state governor, Yahaya Bello who was represented by Arch. Mumin Okara said that “The theme of the programme, Unity of Ebira; a panacea to for socio-economic and political development’ has summarized the challenges facing the people and is equally the solution,” adding that if the people could speak in one voice and focus on one goal, the problem of Ebira people would have been solved.
