Senate President, Senator David Mark, has advised Nigerians to engage in dialogue and mutual respect for one another as a means of fostering national unity.
Mark also used the occasion to welcome Ondo State Governor Segun Mimiko back to PDP. “I want to warmly welcome you back home (PDP), because this is where you originally belongs to and I want to congratulate you for coming back home. On behalf of President Goodluck Jonathan and the National Chairman of our party, I warmly welcome you home”,he said
Senator Mark stated this on Tuesday night at a Command performance organised for him and the members of the 3rd Regular Course of the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) in Akure, by the Ondo State governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko.
The President of the Senate, who is also the Chairman of the 3rd Regular Course of the NDA, said the “solution to our nation’s ethnic and religious crisis is dialogue, show of love and mutual respect for one another.
“Our search for peace, progress and development could only be achieved when we accommodate one another and resolve to live together as members of the same family,” he further said.
Senator Mark, who also commended the decision of Mimiko to return to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), noted that the Governor’s resolve will usher in improved development for the state.
He said, “Governor Olusegun Mimiko is going to leave behind, a legacy of good governance in this state. I am not surprised because you are a child of the great party called, PDP.
“I am leaving this night with a better impression of Ondo State. I want to congratulate Governor Mimiko for putting together, young men and women who are working with him to deliver the dividends of democracy to the people of Ondo State.
“By the time my colleagues go round they will see the giant strides you have taken to build Ondo State to an enviable status.
He said his group celebrate its Annual General Meeting every September 3rd to mark their admission into the Nigerian Defence Academy and showcase their commitment and belief in the continued existence of Nigeria as a formidable nation.
He said, “At the time we were admitted into the NDA in 1967, it was obvious that Nigeria was going to face a civil war. We were just young boys from all parts of this country who loved adventure and are looking forward to adventure. We were propelled not by adventure but by love and patriotism for this country.
“Even when we went for interview, we were aware that we were going to face a civil war, so more than anything else, it was love for Nigeria and patriotism that made us enroll at the NDA.”
He described the Command performance staged by the Ondo State Cultural Troupe clearly shows that the solution to Nigeria’s problem remained dialogue, love and mutual respect for one another not through waging of war.
He said, “we give scholarship not only to our own children but also children of members of the Armed forces. We try to support women in some of their activities and we also try, as much as we can, to act in a manner that shows the unity in our diversity, in this country.”
Mimiko on the occasion, described the Senate President as “an uncommon Nigerian and a gift to this nation.”
He said God has been using him as a stabilising factor and that “every Nigerian recognises the fact that you are the quintessential symbol of stability in our democracy.”
