vice president Kashim Shettimaon Friday urged the leaders of the 10th National Assembly to embrace divergent views and work for the sustenance of Nigeria’s democracy.
“Democracy thrives when we agree that every voice has value and every perspective is meaningful,” Shettima said in Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom State while declaring open a two-day retreat for the leaders of the National Assembly.
Shettima, insisting on why leaders must remain humble and united in serving the people, said Nigeria is a country blessed with great hope and political power is a gift from God.
“We are going to spend more years of our lives out of power than in power. Power, for me, is a humiliating experience. Power must be used for the good of the people.
“We are the luckiest among Nigerians. We are no better than our next-door neighbors,” he said, referring to his former classmate at the University of Ibadan, who was then the brightest in his class, but who was now “languishing in a mediocre bench.”
The vice president affirmed that those who run the country are simply the representatives of the people, and not because they are the best.
Seemingly highlighting the importance of Nigeria to the affairs of Africa and the world, Mr. Shettima spoke of the exponential growth of the country’s population and stated that “if Nigeria fails, the black man has failed.”
“One in four black men is Nigerian. The global growth trajectory faces Africa, and Nigeria will make or break that transition.
“Let’s make Nigeria work,” he urged.
Shettima said he considered it a “strange privilege” for him to address the meeting attended by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, House of Representatives Speaker Tajudeen Abbas and previous leaders of the National Assembly, including Ahmed. Lawan, David Mark, Ken Nnamani and Pius Ayim.
Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, current Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu, was also present at the opening ceremony of the retreat.
Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State, who accompanied President Tinubu to the US for the 78th meeting of the UN General Assembly in New York, was represented in Ikot Ekpene by Deputy Governor Akon Eyakenyi.
But Eno, as soon as he arrived in Uyo on Friday afternoon, drove to Ikot Ekpene where he met Shettima and Senate President Akpabio and other visitors to the state.
‘Unbreakable bond’
Shettima ensured a cordial relationship between the executive and the legislature, especially since Tinubu, himself and other senior administration officials previously served as members of the National Assembly.
“For the first time in our history, the heart of the executive branch of our government is served by alumni of the National Assembly. Both the President’s Chief of Staff and Deputy Chief of Staff are proud alumni of the National Assembly. The Secretary of the Federal Government is one of us.
“Therefore, we cannot afford to go to war. “Not because we will overlook the transgressions of others, but because they will engage with those who know the gravity of their work and would never take it for granted,” the vice president said.