The Kano State Governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf is billed to address a coalition of civil society, faith-based and community groups drawn from across Nigeria in Lagos on Tuesday. About 1000 delegates from across Nigeria are expected at the historic summit.
The event with the theme, “Building a Fractured Nation: The Imperative of Peace Harmony and Justice in Nigeria is being organised by the Nigerian Human Rights Community, NHRC, with former National Secretary, National Democratic Coalition, NADECO, as the Guest Speaker.
The organisers said apart from taking note of the Governor for his peace building process in Kano, the conference offers a new opportunity to rebuild trust and for the South and North to work together, explore areas of common interests for the sake of humanity.
The right group said the event is significant in many respect. ‘Kano is the largest and most populous state in Northern Nigeria while Lagos enjoys the same unique status as the most populated State in Nigeria. Kano and Lagos are homes to the highest concentration of multi-ethnic groups in Nigeria. Political and economic developments in the two countries have direct consequences on the future of Nigeria. The people of this great civilisations coming together is historic. Great value is added with the various stakeholders coming from the six geo-political zones to the historic conference,’ the group said in a statement signed by Martins Adeleke, Kudu Abubakar and Akinwale Kasali.
NHRC said the conference is coming at a very important era in the annals of Nigerian history.
At present, Africa’s largest and most populous country has to contend with a string of violence, ethnic suspicion, division along faith lines and declining National identity as a people. This is compounded by lack of electricity which undermines the prospect of SMEs and Artisan’s capacity to grow the country’s economy.
The Kano State Governor, His Excellency Abba Yusuf is the Special Guest of Honour at the historic event.
He will also be recognised for his role in fostering peace in Kano, a city that was once known to be the hotbed of conflict and mutual distrust among the multi-culture residents, his health, education, infrastructure programmes in Kano State, which benefits residents irrespective of faith or creed. It is significant that Kano in recent years has not witnessed violent ethnic clashes.
The Guest Speaker is Mr. Ayo Opadokun, former Secretary General, National Democratic Coalition, NADECO.
At present, the coalition said the country since 1999 has made a lot of progress in infrastructure, human rights, democratic governance, economic growth, however, the country remains bedeviled by corruption, poverty, terrorism leading to mass displacement, human misery and hunger.
‘Of all the afflictions confronting Nigeria, the most acute is terrorism and the consequent deep ethnic and religions divisions in the country. The truth is that the government has failed in reclaiming the prospect of peace and stability. The people also do not trust the Government which many people see as an unfair institution. The lack of trust has made peace building led by the people very difficult to achieve. The Lagos conference provides a unique opportunity to begin the healing process, a peace building block that is led by the people themselves,’ the group said.
