President Muhammadu Buhari said on Saturday that the corporate existence of Nigeria was not a subject of debate and must not be compromised.
He spoke at the formal inauguration of His Royal Majesty, Igwe Nnaemeka Alfred Ogochukwu, the Obi of Onisha, as the 7th Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) held at the institution’s Main Campus, Samaru, Zaria.
Buhari, who was represented by the Minister of State for Education, Prof. Anthony Anwuka, said: “Every Nigerian must work and search toward bringing back a great nation.
“The menace of insurgency and actions of some people agitating for the divide of this country will be surmounted.
“I, therefore, serve a leave of serious warning that the corporate existence of Nigeria as a single entity is not a subject of debate and will not be compromised,” he stressed.
Buhari expressed satisfaction that in spite of numerous challenges being faced by the university, it had been able to overcome many of the predicaments standing on its way.
“This is an an encouraging sign that all need to be done to put the university on the steady path of growth and development,” Buhari said.
The president tasked Nigerian universities to avoid any form of corrupt practices to enable Nigeria put its education sector back on track.
In a welcome address, the ABU Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Ibrahim Garba had, on behalf of the Governing Council, Senate and the entire university community, congratulated the monarch for what he described as a ”well-deserved appointment”.
Garba described the university as a truly national institution in both its mix of staff and students.
“The institution of Obi of Onisha as the 7th Chancellor of the university has gone further to deepen this unique character of ABU as a symbol of peaceful coexistence and unity of Nigerians despite our temporary challenges,” he said.
Responding, the Obi appreciated President Buhari and the university for finding him worthy of the position and promised to justify the confidence reposed on him.
On agitation for the actualisation of Biafra, the royal father, in an interview with newsmen, described the move as unconstitutional, saying that ”there is a legal and constitutional way of doing such agitation.
“We are in a democratic setting and every Nigerian has a representative at the local government, state and the federal level, so let us use the existing democratic principles to agitate for any right without throwing anybody to hardship.
“What is the essence of our parliament, every Nigerian has the right to vote and to be voted for, so why don’t we use such votes to demand for our right?”
In a related development, Buhari said on Saturday in Jos that Nigeria had entered its glorious era in spite of insecurity and economic challenges.
He stated this at the graduation of Senior Executive Course 37 of the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPPS) in Kuru near Jos.
Represented by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Buhari said that Boko Haram and other such insurgent groups around the country would soon be consigned to history.
While acknowledging that some issues of agitations by some groups and sections in the country could not be ignored, he said that creating employment opportunities would reduce the tension.
He charged the institute to conduct comprehensive study on causes of insurgency and how to build civil capacity to defeat mindless violence.
“ I want the institute to come up with policies which integrate needs of the vast majority of the populace and not just based on GDP projections.
“MNI’s end up in their offices after their course of study at NIPPS, without the required enthusiasm to enforce implementation of the policies they made.
“I think we must encourage ourselves and take ourselves seriously instead of doing this just to take a title.
“The institute will find a way of monitoring members instead of just producing high quality results which just die here.
“Let’s make efforts to see that those who implement policies use them, “ he said.
The president said that his administration would support the institute with funding, but remarked that corruption was the bane of the nation’s development.
“What has eluded our leadership is not lack of good policies but strength of character to implement them.
“Our problem is not legislative, but lack of political will and weak legal process- delay in the judiciary and suppression of the entire legal system, “ he said.
He, however, said that his administration would address this and other distortions in the system on which corruption of leadership thrived.
Buhari called on persons and interest groups within the country to submit to peaceful means of expressing themselves without violating the laws of the land.
No fewer than 63 persons graduated as Members of the National Institute (MNI) at the ceremony, bringing the total number of its granduands since inception in 1979 to 1,784.
