Nigeria’s Information Minister, Labaran Maku has appealed to the Eggon ethnic group in Nassarawa State to genuinely pursue the course of peaceful co-existence with other tribes in the State for development to take place in their community.
He made the appeal in Abuja during the inauguration of the executive committee of the Abuja Chapter of Eggon Youth Movement; adding that the youth in particular should be modest in their utterances, generous in spirit, friendly to all, seek and pursue peace sincerely from their hearts.
“We must acknowledge that violence does not do well to anyone. It destroys, it does not build. We must put the fear of God in all that we do. And the fear of God means that we ought to be patient with life; pursue peace within ourselves with our communities and neighbours and do everything possible to ensure that we contribute our quota to the development of our community, Nasarawa State and Nigeria,” he said.
Labaran Maku indicated from the recent survey on the status of the country that development has been retarded in crisis-prone areas and admonished the people not to allow the recurrence of violence in Nassarawa State. “What we saw in our State lately was too ugly. All of us must resolve never to be in the condition of chaos and destruction again,” the Minister remarked.
Maku advised the people to champion their aspirations through peaceful means and belief in God, saying one may feel cheated sometimes in life or in the family when certain things which one believes one owns may not come to him. “The only way to get it back, he added is to go closer to God.” He continued that pursuing one’s efforts, relying on God, having a sincere heart and a clean mind will cause God to turn the situation to one’s favour.”
Speaking on politics, the Information Minister enjoined the people of Nassarawa State to stand up in support of President Goodluck Jonathan in reciprocation of the gesture he has indulged through the execution of different laudable projects in the State. He mentioned some of the projects to include the citing of a Federal University in Lafia, the construction of the Lafia-Awe-Obi Road, the construction of the Lafia-Doma Road, construction of the Oweto Bridge and provision of Information and Communication Technology facilities to secondary schools in the State.
“We want to assure you that a lot of development is taking place at the federal level. So, as we work towards 2015, I urge the people of Nassarawa State and particularly this community to stand by the President because he has shown commitment to our development. There should be no shaking at all and we have to be bold in that support,” he espoused.
In his message during the occasion, the former Minister of Information, Jerry Gana represented by John Dara called on the people of the Middle Belt to take their rightful place in the affairs of the nation by championing the course of peace and nation-building.
In his remarks, the President of the Eggon Cultural Development Association, Chris Mamman disclaimed the allusion that the Eggon ethnic group is synonymous with violence, stating that they are ready to expose anyone who promotes violence.
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