By Salim Yunusa
Speaking at a two-day summit organised by Sultan Maccido Institute for Peace and Development Studies in Abuja, House of Representatives former speaker Hon Yakubu Dogara said that Nigeria requires a leader who recognised that “compassion is not tossing a coin at a beggar, but rather pulling down the system that produces beggars”.
He warned the country’s leaders against turning Nigeria into another Syria, Iraq and Yemen, asserting that “true leadership is knowing that the real problem is what we demand and what we do not demand”.
“It believes history does not just happen to us, but we make history happen and that not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced,” the former speaker continued.
He delivered his speech in the “Peace and development in Nigeria: The pragmatic approach” summit, where he also stressed that Nigeria needed to stop its current progression of becoming a “killing field”.
In a press release issued by his media aide, Turaki Hassan, Mr Dogara assured that every problem has its solution. However, the answer appears only to those looking for it.
He claimed the summit was an indicator that the government is prepared to carry out “our civic duties to be up in arms against problems stultifying our development and advancement as a nation”.
“How can the solution to our myriads of problems be a collective national suicide?” He asked. “Yes, our national challenges are great, but the promise of Nigeria is greater.”