By Ife Osemedua
365Daily – The Chairman, Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, has called for more deliberate attention to be paid to democratic principles of justice, equity and fairness in order to achieve national unity and peace in Nigeria.
He also canvassed for merit over primordial considerations to encourage fair play in our society.
Fayemi made this call on Wednesday, December 1, 2021, at a National Unity Summit, in Abuja, hosted by the National Prosperity Movement (NPM), a social political group.
He opined that contrary to popular claims that have been deployed to make the case for disintegration and separatism, solidarity does not negate merit or sideline professionalism.
According to the Governor, “We should also be clear that unity benefits considerably from vertical and horizontal solidarity as a key building block, lest we end up with a tyranny of meritocracy,”
“We know from the best experiences in history that solidarity cements a sense of shared destiny among the people who make up a country.”
Fayemi went further to underscore the virtues of patience, hard work and patriotism as veritable tonics for the sustenance of Nigeria’s unity, against the backdrop of recent calls and activities of secessionist elements across the nation.
In furtherance of his message of unity, the Ekiti State Governor noted: “One of the imports of my observation that leaders and citizens have a duty to invest in and grow unity as a full time vocation is that those of our compatriots who, out of a modestly understandable frustration, often say that the amalgamation of 1914 was a mistake, will do well to keep in mind that most countries in the world today are indeed the products of an involuntary and/or compelled mergers of peoples who, once brought together under the same roof had to work to forge bonds of unity among themselves.”
He added: “The important point which we must always remember is that unity anywhere and everywhere is an outcome that is generated out of initial conditions that are not by any means perfect.
“There is, therefore, no bypassing the hard work that leaders and governments must put in to build, sustain, and renew unity.
“And it is that hard work that we must call upon ourselves to undertake, doing so in faith and hope, with patience and patriotism, and an abiding commitment to the common history and humanity we share.”