NIPR holds North Central Summit on Peace, Integration
… as Don advocates Reform for the Nation’s Democratic Practice
A University Lecturer, Professor Hassan Saliu, has advocated the reform of the nation’s democratic practice, as means of addressing Nigeria’s multidimensional problems.
Professor Saliu made the call in Jos, the Plateau State Capital, in his keynote address at the North Central Citizens Summit for National Integration, Peace and Security, organized by the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR).
The Don who is also the National President of Nigerian Political Science Association, blamed the country’s numerous problems on lack of open conversation, pervasive corruption and ignorance of the concept of Democracy by politicians, as causes of the nation’s current travails.
He pointed out that open conversation and persuasive communication by leaders will lubricate democracy and promote healthy relationship among Nigerians.
Declaring the Summit open, Governor Simeon Lalong of Plateau State, represented by his Deputy, Professor Sonni Tyoden, while praising the initiative of NIPR, called for reasonable discussion between Government and the people in rebuilding trust amongst the diverse ethno-religious groups in Nigeria, saying that national integration leads to peaceful coexistence.
Presiding over the occasion, the Director-General of Industrial Trust Fund, Sir Joseph Ari, expressed delight that NIPR rose up to its mandate of ensuring social reengineering, bridge building and fostering unity among Nigerians.
Sir Ari,expressed confidence that the summit would go a long way in proffering enduring solutions to the Nation’s numerous problems.
In his remark, Gbong Gwam Jos and Chairman of Plateau State Traditional Council, Dr Jacob Gyang Buba, who described Traditional Rulers as custodians of cultural heritage and peaceful coexistence, advocated constitutional roles for traditional institution, in restoring the nation’s stability and accelerated development.
The National President and Chairman Governing Council of NIPR, Mallam Mukhtar Zubairu Sirajo, explained that the nation can be restored on the path of stability and progress, if Nigerians shun ethno- religion differences, to build a better Nation, and assured that suggestions and recommendations harvested across the country would be transformed into strategic documents for implementation by all the three tiers of Government.
Earlier, the North Central Zonal Summit Committee Chairman, Barrister Haroun Audu who described North Central as strategic to the survival of the Nation, praised the Kwara State Chapter of the NIPR under the leadership of Doctor Saudat Salah Abdul Baqi, for its commitment towards ensuring the success of the Summit.
He then enjoined the people of the zone, to continue to give the needed support, in salvaging the nation from her current travails.
