Osun@26: Aregbesola urges Nigerians to shun acts, capable of ripping the nation apart

AS Osun State celebrates its 26th anniversary on Sunday, Governor Rauf Aregbesola has urged Nigerians to eschew acts, capable of jeopardising the corporate existence of the country.

He said that in the midst of hate speeches and threats of evacuation by ethnic groups and heightened political unrest across the geo-political zones, Nigerians must be united to condemn all forms of utterances and acts that are capable of ripping the country a party.

In a special broadcast to commemorate 26th anniversary of Osun, which was created on the on 27th of August, 1991, Aregbesola underscored the need for indigenes of Osun and Nigeria in general to shun all forms of anti-social behaviours and discriminations based on faith and ethnicity, for the nation to move forward as a united entity.

He averred that if the people unite, work assiduously, harness their God-given potentialities and pray fervently, the nation will overcome any challenges that come its way be it in mode of economic, political or social problems.

According to Aregbesola, “we should practice tolerance in religion, ethnicity and ideology and abhor any form of hatred or discrimination against anyone different from us in any social category. We should remain strong, united, unbroken and unbreakable, in the spirit of togetherness.

“An economic transition is in the horizon in which our national dependence on oil will end as we know it. We should all brace up for this development by preparing spiritually and intellectually, using our God given endowment. Our faith in God and responsible use of our endowment will see us through. We will overcome any challenge we face. Our best is yet to come”, he posited

While recalling that the creation of Osun in 1991 was the realisation of the demand of the people for a state of their own, Aregbesola described  the birth of the state as ‘a dream come true,’ as it brought government closer to them and through which they have been experiencing human and infrastructure development and life more abundant.

He stated that his administration, building on the achievements of the past successive governments, had positioned the people to realise their greatest potentials by bringing them to the consciousness of who they are as the virtuous people.

Aregbesola further contended that “under our watch in nearly seven years, we have worked hard to establish a people-friendly government whose resources have been judiciously used for the development of the people in every area. Though we went through a daunting financial challenge occasioned by tumbling oil price, but we have steadied the ship of state, ushered in unprecedented peace, prosperity and human development”.

“We have made agriculture to be important and assisted farmers to excel in their vocation and banish hunger as we promised during our campaign. We have invested huge sum in education and our brand new state-of-the-art schools are now the reference in quality and standard for others. Our social protection programmes like youth engagement and empowerment, women development and empowerment, care for the aged and care and rehabilitation of the destitute have won laurels and hoisted for others to duplicate”, he added.