Political leaders have been called upon to be more committed towards nation building rather than making utopian promises.
This call was contained in New Year message by the former Kwara State
Governor, Bukola Saraki; ex-Acting Peoples Democratic Party Chairman,
Kawu Baraje; and the Christian Association of Nigeria (Kwara and Kogi
chapters)
Kwara CAN Chairman, James Foloranmi; his Kogi counterpart, Bishop
Emmanuel Egbunu; Saraki and Baraje all expressed hope that this year
will favour every Nigerian.
Saraki in his own message said” “We should not lose hope in project
Nigeria. We should all work hard and shun discriminatory tendencies in
the year. We should stop violence in whatever form and make peace our
watch word.
“This nation will be great, I can see the light at the end of the dark tunnel. Nigeria has the potential for every good thing.”
While calling on Nigerians to be more dedicated to God and work
towards the unity and development of the nation, Foloranmi urged the
nation to be more prayerful.
He said: “We can live in peace and love and we can achieve a lot. Nigerians should also be more dedicated to God and humanity.”
On his own part, Egbunu lamented that corruption had prevented the nation from growing.
According to the cleric: “We will pray and hope for the best for our
country, but there is so much of sabotage on the ground. I am praying
and hoping that Nigerians will put the love of our fatherland above
narrow interests. We have kept ourselves down for too long. I think it
is time to rise up. If we do not do it for ourselves, nobody will do it
for us. There is so much going for us but what keeps us down is
corruption.”
In his own New Year message, Baraje begged politicians to stop deceiving the electorate with empty promises.
He noted that more employment opportunities would be created this year with the early passage of 2013 budget.
Baraje said that with the steps taken by President Goodluck Jonathan
with the subsidy Re-investment and Empowerment Programme and other
employment opportunities, jobs would be created to reduce tension in the
country.