Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo (SAN) has assured that Nigeria will soon overcome the current security challenges facing it.
Osinbajo spoke while hosting His Royal Majesty, Yakanaje Uke, Nasarawa State, Alhaji Ahmed Abdullahi Hassan, at the State House.
According to a statement issued on Tuesday by Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Office of the Vice President, Mr. Laolu Akande, Osinbajo also disclosed that the nation’s security architecture is being re-organised with a view to achieving an optimal result.
“There is no question at all that we are facing security challenges, but we are able to overcome them. The role of the leadership is to sit down to think through the problems.
“This is a big country, so policing is very difficult. There is a need for us to reorganise our security architecture, which is what is going on now,” he said.
The Vice President assured that the present challenges will prepare Nigeria for a greater and prosperous future, urging the traditional institution to support the re-engineering process.
His words: “I believe strongly that the reason why we are experiencing what we are going through today is because we are being prepared for the future.
“A future where we will take into account all of the problems because if we haven’t gone through the problems we are going through now, it will be difficult for us to appreciate the importance of fairness and justice, the importance of giving people a voice and a representation. I am very pleased to hear about what you are doing.”
Osinbajo explained that “one of the reasons why we have some of the divisions and conflicts in the parts of the country is because people do not feel included in the management of affairs in their localities.”
Lauding the Yakanaje for his leadership style, the Vice President said: “I think you have created an opportunity where the options are available for bringing appeals to a centre of fairness and justice for people from across the country, and its one that is to be emulated.
“And I think that this is the way Nigeria should be. We should be able to say that no matter where you are from, if you have the talent, if you work hard, you will succeed wherever you are. You will not be constrained by your political, ethnic or religious affiliations.
“Every great society that has succeeded in the world is multiethnic and they succeeded because they brought in talents from all over the place.”
The Vice President urged traditional rulers to leverage the influence they have over communities to effect positive change for the good of the entire society.
On his part, the traditional ruler hailed the Vice President for his ability to bring people of different ethnic groups in the country together. He said in his kingdom in Karu LGA of Nasarawa, “we are emulating your efforts, bringing ethnic groups in Nigeria together as one”.
The paramount ruler appealed to the Federal Government to integrate the traditional institutions in the implementation of some of its intervention schemes for small businesses and the less-privileged.