Nigeria: Nation Won’t Break Up, Says Former Head of State Abdulsalami Abubakar

Makurdi — Former head of state, General Abdusalam Abubakar (rtd), has declared that despite the lingering security challenges facing the country and the unhealthy agitations by a few, Nigeria would remain an indivisible country.

Speaking with newsmen Saturday in Makurdi, Benue State capital, after paying a courtesy call on Governor Gabriel Suswam, he said the country was passing through trying moments but stated that the nation would soon overcome the challenges.

Gen. Abubakar noted that Nigerians had intermingled over a long period of time and lived with obvious developmental challenges, which would make it difficult for any break up.

“This is not the first time I am saying this, all the secession threats here and there with the security challenges are mere noise because we have deeply intermingled. Wherever you go, you see Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo Kanuris and others, so there is nothing that can break up this country because God has brought us together,” he said.

He, however, urged Nigerians to stand up and assist the present administration to overcome the developmental challenges facing the nation adding, “government alone cannot do it, every citizen must join hands with government to tackle the problem of security”.

Speaking earlier during the courtesy call on the governor, the former head of state urged young Nigerian leaders to strive at building a virile nation, stating that the future of the country lies in their hands.

Abubakar was in Makurdi where he bagged a honourary doctorate degree by the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi.

He commended Government Suswam for his developmental projects in the state, adding that the Suswam’s administration had impacted positively on the lives of the people of the state.

Suswam eulogised the former head of state for midwifing the present democratic dispensation, stressing that posterity would not forget him.