Muhammadu Abubakar III, the Sultan of Sokoto, says the
discourse on the country’s unity is driven by ignorance and emotion rather than
knowledge.
Speaking on Wednesday at a national unity summit organised
by the National Prosperity Movement (NPM) in Abuja, Abubakar said the
discussion on Nigeria’s unity should be informed and driven by facts.
Represented by Shehu Yamusa III, Emir of Keffi, the sultan
said the focus of discourse on unity should be on the right issues with the aim
of promoting understanding.
“It appears that one major problem we have around our
national unity and cohesion in this country is that the discourse even among
the educated is driven more by ignorance and emotions than knowledge,” he said.
“The discourse has to
be an informed one driven by facts and figures, otherwise we would find
ourselves boxed into dialogue of the daft where no one understands the other.
“We also have to avoid confusing unity with uniformity. We
don’t have to be uniform to be united. The length of our fingers are not the
same because each finger has a unique role to perform.”
The monarch also said the country’s diversity should be
celebrated.
“This can only happen
if we ask our scholars to lead the debate. Some of us that went to unity
schools and served in the military find it difficult to understand where the
unnecessary hatred is coming from,” he said.
On his part, Kayode Fayemi, governor of Ekiti, said
fostering unity in diversity requires attention to equity, justice, fair play,
and merit.
“We should also be clear that unity benefits considerably
from vertical and horizontal solidarity as a key building block, lest we end up
with a tyranny of meritocracy,” Fayemi said.
“We know from the best experiences in history that
solidarity cements a sense of shared destiny among the people who make up a
country.
“Contrary to popular
claims that have been deployed to make the case for disintegration and
separatism, solidarity does not negate merit or sideline professionalism.”
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