By Deborah Hassan
365Daily – Former President of the Senate, Senator David Mark, has charged Nigerians to shun religious and ethnic differences and unite against forces threatening their peaceful coexistence.
He added that it was time for all men and women of good conscience to rise come together to proffer lasting solutions to the lingering insecurity that has enveloped the entire country.
Mark stated this at a morning mass held on Thursday at St. Mulumba Catholic Chaplaincy, Apo, Abuja, to mark his 73rd birthday.
A statement issued by his Media Adviser, Paul Mumeh, added that the former Senate President stressed that Nigerians could no longer deny the current level of insecurity and disharmony tearing the country apart.
He said “Though we have different reasons to celebrate at different times, we cannot shy away from the present abnormality of insecurity and disharmony threatening the very foundation of our country.”
“It is important for all of us to come together and fashion out a workable and equitable solution to end this menace.”
He, however, expressed belief that Nigeria will overcome the situation if the people and their leaders do the right thing.
Present at the mass were prominent Nigerians including the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Uche Secondus; former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Anyim Pius Anyim; former Chief of Staff to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, Chief Mike Ogiadomhe; former Senate Leader, Senator Victor Ndoma Egba (SAN), among others.
Mark served as Nigeria’s Senate President from 2007 to 2015 and is fondly remembered for his role in the enactment of “the Doctrine of Necessity” that saved Nigeria from a major leadership crisis following the illness of late President Umaru Yar’Adua in 2010.
At 73, Mark said he is now an ambassador of peace in his home State Benue and Nigeria with a resolve to serve God and humanity.
In their various remarks, Senators Anyim, Zainabe Kure, Suleman Adokwe, Tunde Ogbeha, Mrs Abba Moro, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Arc Sonny Echono, AIG Wilson Inalegwu (Rtd), all paid glowing tributes on Senator Mark for his meritorious service to the nation, describing him as a man of peace.
Earlier in his homily, Rev. Fr. Vincent Iletogbe tasked Nigerian leaders to put the welfare and security of citizens at the centre of their policies and programmes.