Public Officials Personal Ambitions Threaten Nigeria’s Unity, Peace And Development- Mark

The Senate President, David Mark, has warned political leaders to desist from destroying the unity and peace of the nation in their quest for political offices.

Mr. Mark gave the warning in Abuja on Thursday in an address to mark the end of the second session of the 7th Senate.

He noted that political office holders had abandoned their responsibilities of providing good governance and democratic dividends to the people in pursuit of their political ambitions. He advised politicians to focus on promoting national unity rather than allowing personal interest to distract them from the act of governance.

“Over-heating the polity is unnecessary, diversionary, divisive, destructive, unhelpful and unpatriotic.

“Elections are two clear years away. Yet, the collision of vaulting personal ambitions is over-heating the polity and distracting the onerous task of governance.

“With so much work yet to be done, we, as elected officials, should focus on governance and justify our present mandates.

“Those beating the drums of war should realise that no nation can survive two civil wars in one lifetime,” he said.

He warned those fanning embers of disharmony to cease from such acts bearing in mind that the nation was greater than the sum total of its components.

On the emergency rule in some parts of the North East, Mark urged the Federal Government to complement military action by addressing the socioeconomic problems facing those areas.

He said the government should embark on a campaign to win the cooperation of the residents of the affected states to discourage them from working for the terrorists. He said the federal and state governments should create appropriate socioeconomic interventions to modernise and expand the economies of the Northern States to reduce poverty.

“The bigger challenge is to win the hearts and minds of the locals from whom the fanatics recruit their foot soldiers.

“To win hearts and reshape attitudes, we must identify and address the root causes of this extremism and sectarian hate.

“These socioeconomic interventions should constitute the core of a coherent national counter-terrorism policy that offers both the carrot and the stick,” he said.

The senate president called on the Federal Government to ensure proper funding of the military operations to bring the campaign to a quick and logical end.

(NAN)