As the nation marks 18 years of uninterrupted democracy, the Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo has warned against actions capable of undermining the sovereignty of Nigeria, saying the country “belongs to all of us.”
The acting president gave the warning in his Democracy Day speech released in the early hours of Monday.
According to him, “as we all daily preoccupy ourselves with pursuing the Nigerian dream, which is the desire to better Nigerians’ lives and circumstances vigorously and honestly, it is inevitable that grievances and frustrations will arise from time to time.
“This is normal. What is not normal, or acceptable, is employing these frustrations as justification for indulging in discrimination or hate speech or hateful conduct of any kind, or for seeking to undermine by violent or other illegal means the very existence of the sovereign entity that has brought us all together as brothers and sisters and citizens.
“Nigeria belongs to all of us. No one person or group of persons is more important or more entitled than the other in this space that we all call home. And we have a responsibility to live in peace and harmony with one another, to seek peaceful and constitutional means of expressing our wishes and desires, and to resist all who might seek to sow confusion and hatred for their own selfish interests.”
Osinbajo asked for prayers for the restoration to full health and strength and the safe return of President Muhammadu Buhari from the United Kingdom.
Congratulating all Nigerians on this year’s Democracy Day, the acting president said the nation “is on a journey of greatness, and together we shall arrive at the destination of our dream.”
