Senate President David Mark says in spite of the economic and socio-political challenges facing the nation, the resolve and willingness of Nigerians to confront the issues headlong will suffice.
Mark, who stated this in his goodwill message to Nigerians on the nation's 52nd independence, maintained that Nigerians had the capacity to solve their problems.
“Nobody is coming from the moon or space to solve our problems for us.
“The challenge is that we must put behind us such mundane issues as ethnic or religious differences and come together as one people to tackle our problems.’’
In a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media, Kola Ologbondiyan, Mark said: “If we look inwards and do the right things in conformity with our laws and customs, we can adequately find solutions to our problems.
“God has blessed the nation with enough human and material resources. We have all it takes to attain our giant status economically and politically.
“All we need to do is to harness our resources and potentials for good.’’
The Senate President decried the un-abating destruction of lives and property, ethnic militias and kidnapping, noting that these were hitherto alien to the nation.
“We need each other. I am very convinced that with the cooperation of all, we can end the menace and make our country a better place.
“For us as legislators, we will continue to be guided by the wishes and aspirations of the citizenry.
“We will legislate on what makes for the good of the nation at all times. We shall be fair, honest and objective on all matters affecting our citizens.’’
On the review of the constitution, Mark expressed optimism that the exercise would be holistic and targeted toward addressing all grey areas and imbalances in the nation, so that no one would feel marginalised.
He promised that the National Assembly would cooperate with the executive arm of government by laying an effective and result-oriented legislative frame work for service delivery to the people.
Mark said state governments and corporate organisations should focus on areas where they had comparative advantages to contribute their quota maximally to the nation-building process. (NAN)