Professor Abdulrasheed Nallah, former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Abuja, has called for a national dialogue on Nigeria’s insecurity challenges.
He said the dialogue should address continued banditry, religious bigotry, and the increasing lack of harmony among Nigerian communities.
Prof Nallah, who also served two terms as Vice-Chancellor of Kwara State University, Malete, stated this during a public lecture delivered at a book launch on the Chief Imam of Ilorin, Sheikh Muhammed Bashir Imam Solih, authored by Abdulazeez Arowona, in Ilorin on Thursday.
“I believe that the very day Nigerians decide that enough is enough, it will be nipped in the bud. We need to be tolerant of each other, see ourselves as brothers and sisters, stop the hate because we are all equal citizens of the country, and must share our resources and become our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers,” Prof. Nallah declared.
He argued that Nigerian citizens, whether Fulani, Yoruba, Ibo, or wherever they are in the country, must not be threatened or made to pay for the purported sins of their ancestors.
“If we must forge unity and shut down the divisions, we must dialogue among ourselves as Nigerians,” he added.
Prof. Nallah asserted that “we must solve our problems ourselves as citizens and not rely on any foreigners whose ambition is to exploit our gold and minerals. Forget that they talk in terms of religious saviours, the same religion they worshipped when they enslaved and colonized Africans.”
He also urged the Nigerian government “to conduct a census to know and document the citizens living in the bushes and forests, and show them they are citizens too. But most importantly, while eliminating criminals, incorporate the citizens who prefer to remain engaged in the forest economy into the national project of discipline, peace, and harmony.”
The former Vice-Chancellor observed that “Ilorin is fortunate to have inherent community structures that mobilize the Emirate people for religious harmony and community service. I make bold to say that hardly any other Nigerian community has shown more tolerance and acceptance of diverse peoples than Ilorin, especially the peoples of the book.”
