Sen. Abdullahi Adamu (APC- Nasarawa), has urged Nigerians to shun ethnicity and religious sentiments, and to embrace each other in order to move the country forward.
Adamu made the call on Sunday in Dari village, Kokona Local Government Area, Nasarawa State, at the public presentation of a book titled: “The Grateful Heart”.
The book was written by John Mamman, who was celebrating his 60th birthday.
Adamu, a two-time Governor of the state and Chairman of the occasion, said that the diversity of Nigerians was an asset that needed to be explored for the benefit of all.
“If God wanted us to be from the same tribe or religion, He could have created us to be so.
“If God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth and our Maker, in His wisdom made us to be from different tribes and religions, why do we hate each other due to our differences?
“If you hate anyone simply because such a person is not from your tribe or religion, you are challenging God and not the person,” he said.
He said that both the Holy Bible and Holy Qur’an taught love and not hate or killings on the basis of religious differences.
The lawmaker wondered why adherents of the two religions acted to the contrary.
He congratulated the celebrant for clocking 60 and still remaining strong, and advised him to really thank God for keeping him alive and in good health.
In separate interviews with newsmen, some friends, colleagues and associates of the celebrant, described him as a hardworking and detribalised Nigerian.
Nicholas Aboki, Head of Civil Service of the state, said that the celebrant was known for hard work when he was in active service, and even now that he had retired.
Aboki said that the celebrant was also one of the great farmers in the state, because of his belief in diversification of the economy in line with the vision of the government.
On his part, Saidu Kurki, Chairman of Kokona Local Government, said that the celebrant was really a father to everybody in the area.
He said that the area would have been more developed than it was now, if it had up to five persons with the kind of virtues, attributes and were hardworking like the celebrant.
In his response, the celebrant, Mr John Mamman, who is the Special Adviser to Gov. Abdullahi Sule on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, thanked God for all he had done and was still doing in his life.
Mamman said that he had gone through difficult and trying moments in his life, but that God saw him through to surmount all those moments to be what he was today.
(NAN)
