Despite her severe challenges, Nigeria will not and must not collapse, so says former Deputy National Chairman, South, and member, Board of Trustees, BoT, of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP, Chief Olabode George.
George, the Atona Oodua of Yorubaland, made this known, while delivering a lecture, titled ‘Nigeria Will Triumph,’ in Lagos, on Tuesday, as the Special Guest of Honour at the 4th Annual Lecture of Freedom Online, themed: ‘Nigeria’s Political Indices Bright Or Bleak Future?’
Chief George, who was represented by his Special Adviser and veteran journalist, Prince Uthman Shodipe-Dosunmu, said, “Surely Nigeria has severe challenges and searing crucibles, just like all inchoate states grasping with nationhood, struggling with the firmness of national existence.
“Truly, there are clear illustrations of despair. There are desperate moments that query the sustainability and the endurance of the Nigerian union. Things are not the way they should be. We live in a state of anomie, where truth is scarce, where logic is unknown.
“The throbbing indications of rudderless straying as observable in banditry, urban terrorism, primitive ritualistic values and other ills are enough for many patriots to give up on our survival as a nation.
“Despite all these provocations, alas, this is not my recourse. I will never be halted in hopeless capitulation. I will never resign to the hurried claim of forfeiture and ruin.”
The former chairman of the board of the Nigerina Ports Authority, NPA, averred that he really believed that Nigeria can get it right, insisting, “I do believe Nigeria is salvageable. I do believe our nation’s ultimate redeeming progression is in our ability to give every section of our society a sense of belonging in the larger Nigerian space.
“But we must be seen to be defined by the ingredients of equity, fairness and justice.
“We must be seen to be selfless and accommodating in our values, giving hope to all our citizens that the rule of law is an abiding principle of the state, regardless of ethnic provenance or sectarian fixity.”
The leader of Omo Eko Pataki, a socio-political organisation said that all enlightened nations are never some certifiable, definite arrival, adding, “No. It is always a journey, a progression towards perfection.
“There will always be flaws. There will always be moments of uncertainties. From the cradle of Mesopotamia to the giantism of the Roman Republic, from the grandeur of ancient Hellene to the magnificent might of Persia – we witnessed the vagaries of national beginnings, the early turbulence and the conflicting epochs inherent in the formative stages of nation building.”
Expressing unquantified optimism, George said, “This nation will not, should not and must not fail. Like all other nations before us, we will thrive, we will endure and we will triumph beyond the current stormy tides.”
