The National President of the Alumni Association of the National Institute (AANI), former IGP Mohammad Abubakar has felicitated with Nigerian Christians on the occasions of Yuletide.
In a statement he personally signed and made available to ASHENEWS on Friday, expressed gratitude “to God for sparing our lives to celebrate the 2021 Christmas and the forthcoming new year 2022,” while also describing “Christmas is a period when our Christian brothers and sisters celebrate and reflect on the birth, messages and sacrifices of Jesus Christ to save humanity.
“It is the ultimate observance of the most incredible act of love for humanity, as stated in the Holy Bible.”
The president called on all Christians to reflect on the essence of Christmas by reflecting on the teaching and virtues of Jesus Christ by showing love to one another.
“However, while celebrating, there is need for all to reflect on the essence of Christmas by reflecting on the teaching and virtues of Jesus Christ by showing love to one another.
“Indeed, the year 2021 have been very challenging given the lingering COVID-19 pandemic and the advent of its Delta and Omicron variants, as well as myriads of other security and socio-economic challenges,” he stated.
Abubakar also commended the resilience of Nigerians in the face of insecurity and socio-economic challenges.
“I commend the resilience of Nigerians in the face of all these challenges and our individual and collective efforts in making our country better in the face of these daunting challenges.”
He enjoined citizens to continue to be conscious of the COVID-19 pandemic and take proactive measures and adhere to the COVID-19 protocols to contain its spread among our society.
According to Abubakar, “AANI which is composed of well trained and highly experienced Nigerians and elder statesmen and women, is deeply concerned about the increasing security and socio-economic challenges in the country and efforts at tackling them. Therefore, we wish to acknowledge these efforts and commend the federal and state governments and the resilience of all our security agencies in tackling the daunting security and other socio-economic challenges in Nigeria.”
He called on the government to do more as most of these challenges are deeply rooted and require more concerted, comprehensive, participatory, and proactive measures.
“The federal government must come up with a comprehensive strategy and aggressive advocacy to stabilize the polity and promote a proactive agenda for the development of the country.
“We must all rededicate ourselves to the Nigerian project and provide durable solutions to the prevailing situations in the country. We must focus on qualitative and functional education system for our teeming population and enhance agriculture and agro-allied processing as our area of comparative advantage.
“This would increase employment, reduce poverty and crimes, and promote overall growth and development in Nigeria. This requires a comprehensive programme of action that is objective, participatory and implemented on a continuous basis in an integrated and strategic manner.
“We wish to also call on all Nigerians to be more hopeful and continue to support the efforts of the government and the security forces to enable us have a peaceful and secured Nigeria.
“In the face of these challenges, our noble Association has remained focussed, vibrant, and proactive in the search for solutions towards a better society. We have a critical role to play in promoting a proper understanding of the issues, by engaging effectively with all stakeholders to advance an actionable agenda towards a lasting solution to the current security and socio-economic challenges in Nigeria.
“In this connection, AANI is poised to convene a national dialogue involving all stakeholders, on Nigeria’s national unity and development. This is borne out of the observed divisive tendencies observed among the components of the Nigerian society, unguarded utterances that tend to polarise the nation by noted groups and individuals.
“This has led to the frightening state of affairs in the country and thus needs to be addressed. The dialogue is expected to provide a platform for frank and objective discussion on thorny and contentious issues of national unity with a view to establishing a common ground for national rebirth.
“We hope at the end of it, we shall be able to proffer practicable recommendations and innovative implementation strategies to strengthen our national unity and peaceful coexistence in Nigeria. We, therefore, call on all Nigerians to support us and take an active part in this venture which comes up in the first quarter of 2022,” the President further said.
Abubakar condemned acts of terrorism that have destroyed lives and property of Nigerians.
“We condemn the wanton destruction of lives and property and threats and intimidation of bona-fide citizens in any parts of the country by terrorists, bandits, kidnappers, and other criminal elements in the society.
“Additionally, the voice of AANI will continue to be loud in continuous appeal to the Federal government to guarantee the lives, safety, and the property of law-abiding citizens across the country. We shall also continue to preach peace and harmony among all Nigerians and the creation of opportunities for everyone to realise their potentials.
“We must also emphasise that the solution to violence and criminality is to arrest and prosecute the perpetrators and address the root causes of these issues.
“As we approach the 2023 general elections, we wish to call on the political class to uphold global best practices and focus on the security, welfare, and economic prosperity of Nigerians over and above their personal ambitions and pecuniary interests. Let there be politicking devoid of thuggery and violence.
“We will continue to promote national development through dialogue and advice. We would also advise and make inputs on national policies and recommendations and realistic implementation strategies for the well-being of Nigerians and other residents of this country,” Abubakar stated.
