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Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Wednesday said that the country must strive to enthrone justice, equity and fair play in order to build a strong, united nation.
Obasanjo, who is on a tour of the South East, said this when he made a brief stop at the Vision Africa Radio, Umuahia.
He was the Special Guest of Honour at the prize/award presentation to the winners of the 2021 Schools’ Debate, organised by the station, in conjunction with the Abia State Ministry of Education.
He said: “One of the things I believe we need in this country is nation building.
“We have not built a nation.
“We have a country but we need to weave, integrate that country into a nation.
“And you will not get that unless you have justice, fairness, equality and everybody having a stake in that project called Nigeria.
“If that is the situation that we need at the national and continental levels, it means you have to have it at other levels down to the family level.
“Any family where there is no justice, fair play and equity will not be stable.
“This applies to any country, community and state.
“If Nigeria needs these attributes, then any state in Nigeria needs it as much as Nigeria.”
Obasanjo said that this was one of the gospels he had been preaching since he celebrated his 85th birthday last week.
He congratulated the three schools that emerged winners at the debate and admonished them to learn to be good communicators, if they hope to become great achievers in future.
According to him, it takes a good communicator to marshal out his points convincingly, saying that bad communicators end up as poor achievers because of their inability to put their ideas across convincingly, notwithstanding how beautiful they might be.
He also commended the President of the station, Bishop Sunday Onuoha, for organising the programme designed to groom young ones and support the growth of education.
The topic of the debate was: “The development of a nation’s sound education system ensures security more than military actions.”
In a brief remark, Governor Okezie Ikpeazu thanked the former Head of State for his love for Abia State, South East and Nigeria in general.
Okezie, represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Chris Ezem, described Obasanjo as “a nationalist, true Nigerian leader and bridge builder”.
In an address of welcome, Onuoha said the competition was organised as part of the activities to mark the station’s 25th anniversary.
He said that 235 public and private secondary schools in the state had so far participated in the competition since its inception 11 years ago.
He said: “It’s important to mention that the essence of the debate is to broaden and sharpen the spoken English Language proficiency of our secondary school students.
“It is also to empower the schools with awards and educate and enlighten our teeming audience.”
The cleric hoped that the participants used the event to enhance their public speaking skills as well as note-taking skills, increase their self-confidence and teamwork skills.
He said he was convinced the competition had also helped them “to develop better ways to graciously state their points of view with gentleness, even when standing up for the truth”.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Obasanjo was accompanied on the visit by a delegation of Ohaneze Ndigbo, the apex socio-cultural group of the South East, led by its Secretary-General, Ambassador Okey Eziuche.
At the event to receive Obasanjo were the former Chairman of the Niger Delta Development Commission, Chief Onyema Ugochukwu; a Peoples Democratic Party’s governorship aspirant in Abia State and Chancellor, Gregory University, Uturu, Prof. Greg Ibe, amongst other dignitaries.