Diversity should be our strength — Atiku

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has said that Nigeria’s diversity should be used as a source of strength.

The chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) said this yesterday, in Abuja, during the public presentation of a book ‘Constitutional Misconception of Secularism: Implications for Politics and Religion,’ written by Rev. Father Gabriel Ngbea.

The Wazirin Adamawa, who was the chairman of the occasion, was represented by former Speaker, Plateau State House of Assembly, Hon. George Daika.

He said the framers of Nigeria’s first national constitution “carefully considered our diverse character as a nation and chose the secular path for us, in order to accommodate that diversity and ensure peaceful coexistence.”

“Let me, however, use this opportunity to remind us all that at this delicate moment in our nation’s history - with separatist agitations, militancy of the religious and secular varieties, calls for restructuring, and jousting for future elections - we should all be mindful of and sensitive to the feelings and preferences of those who may not think the way we think, speak the way we speak or worship the way we worship or belong to the same political party as us.

“Our diversity ought to be our strength and, together, we can still build the Nigeria of our dreams,” Atiku said.