By Musa Baba Adamu
Former President of the Senate, David Mark, has tasked Nigerians to bury religious and ethnic differences and come together to establish a common front against forces threatening the peaceful coexistence amongst our people.
In a statement issued yesterday by his Media Adviser, Paul Mummeh, Mark said it was time for all men and women of good conscience to rise to the occasion and proffer lasting solutions to the lingering insecurity that has enveloped the entire country.
The former President of the Senate stated this at a ceremony on Thursday held at St. Mulumba Catholic Chaplaincy, Apo, Abuja to mark his 73rd birthday, where he said Nigerians can no longer deny the current level of insecurity and disharmony tearing the country apart.
He said “Though we have different reasons to celebrate at different times, we cannot shy away from the present abnormality of insecurity and disharmony threatening the very foundation of our country.”
“It is important for all of us to come together and fashion out a workable and equitable solution to end this menace.”
Mark said he believes that Nigeria will overcome the situation if the people and their leaders are willing to do the right thing.
Present at the mass were prominent Nigerians including the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Uche Secondus, former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Anyim Pius Anyim, former Chief of Staff to the President, Chief Mike Ogiadomhe, former Senate Leader, Senator Victor Ndoma Egba (SAN), among others.
Mark served as Nigeria’s Senate President from 2007 to 2015 and fondly remembered for his role in the enactment of “the Doctrine of Necessity,” that saved Nigeria from a major leadership crisis following the illness of late President Umaru Yar’Adua in 2010.
At 73, Mark said he is now an ambassador of peace in his home State, Benue and Nigeria, with a resolve to serve God and humanity.
In their various remarks, Senators Anyim, Zainabe Kure, Suleman Adokwe, Tunde Ogbeha, Mrs Abba Moro, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Arc Sonny Echono, AIG Wilson Inalegwu (Rtd) all paid glowing tributes on Senator Mark for his meritorious services to the nation describing him as a man of peace.
Earlier in his homily, Rev Fr Vincent Iletogbe tasked Nigerian leaders to put the welfare and security of citizens at the centre of their policies and programmes.
