Maku Advocates Greater Citizens’ Participation In War Against Terrorism

Maku Advocates Greater Citizens’ Participation In War Against Terrorism

The Minister of Information, Mr Labaran Maku, on Tuesday called for the commitment and collective will of citizens to enable Nigeria to overcome terrorism in the country.

Maku made the call in Abuja when he received a delegation from the Nigeria Centenary Lapel Pin Project.

He said that the Federal Government, through the military, had done so much to curtail the attacks on innocent citizens.

Maku called for the cooperation of all citizens to win the fight.

The minister urged Nigerians never to succumb to the antics of terrorists or their sponsors, irrespective of the unwarranted attacks on them.
“It is now the duty of every citizen to report the activities of people in their communities that they do not understand.

“The situation that is facing us today is quite difficult; this is a war by a few criminals against all Nigerians and this means we need to work harder as government and citizens.
“We will overcome this challenge but we must have that spirit of resoluteness as a people; our collective strength is one that will overcome everything,’’ he said.
Maku also expressed optimism that Nigeria would emerge stronger and that the challenges that threatened the economic base of a section of the country would soon be addressed.

The minister said that terrorism was not peculiar to Nigeria, stressing that other nations across the world had, in one way or the other, been plagued by activities of terrorists.
He said in spite of the setbacks, Nigeria had recorded tremendous progress in the past 100 years.
He also appealed to citizens not to despair or run down the polity because of the situation.
“Terrorism is not a Nigerian phenomenon; it is a global phenomenon that was imported by some of our people but we will overcome it with time.

“I know how our citizens feel; they feel depressed; they feel discouraged but I believe we will definitely overcome it.
“It is a passing phase but with the work that we are doing and with the cooperation of citizens, we shall overcome it,’’ he said.

Earlier, the leader of the delegation, Mr Chuks Chilaka, said that the centenary project was a private sector initiative aimed at reawakening the patriotic spirit in every Nigerian.
According to Chilaka, the pin, carrying the centenary logo, depicts homogeneity, hard work and unity of the Nigerian nation.

He said that every Nigerian was expected to wear the pin as a mark of honour and patriotism to the nation.
He said that the organisation had ordered for the production of over 500,000 pins to be sold to Nigerians, irrespective of their affiliation, as part of Nigeria’s centenary celebration.
The minister was decorated with a gold plated pin as a mark of his endorsement of the project.

 NAN

— April 22, 2014


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