The Governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi, has said Nigeria’s problems cannot be solved by violence or war.
Gov Fayemi who delivered the Faculty of Sciences Zik Lectures Series at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, with the theme: “Security, Governance and Nations Building”, said there was absolutely nothing heroic about dying foolishly for a cause for which dialogue and negotiation could solve.
He said, “Whatever is worth fighting for, is worth staying alive for. I can very much hear this refrain flowing from the life experience and legacy of Nnamdi Azikiwe. And if the Great Zik were alive, this is precisely what he would be telling this august gathering. Let us hearken to his words of wisdom.”
Fayemi, who is the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), said what Nigeria needed was nation-building and not confrontation or war.
He said, “As such, there can be no successful nation-building in our current climate where a wide section of our citizens are apathetic to the very idea of the nation-state and perceive the political institutions that govern them as enemies.
“For many, nation-building is no more than age-old idealistic rhetoric that has no bearing on lived realities.
“My argument has always been though, that we cannot speak of national development without first resolving the key issues of nation-building. I make bold, therefore, to say that the security challenges that are confronting us in all their various dimensions and ramifications, and all the issues of governance instability that we are confronted with are directly consequential upon our inability to settle some fundamental questions of nationhood…”
