Nigeria@60: Our challenges are surmountable — Lawan

President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, has said that the challenges faced by Nigerians are surmountable.

He made the remark during Wednesday’s plenary session on the backdrop of Nigeria’s Diamond Jubilee celebration on Oct. 1, saying that the theme of the 60th independence anniversary — “Together”, was apt.

According to him, the country’s challenges are not insurmountable.

He added that “all that is required is for leaders to be determined, sincere and honest in dealing and tackling the problems.

“On behalf of all of us in the Senate and indeed the National Assembly, I want to congratulate Mr President and the good people of this country for witnessing another independence day.

“We should never despair; many countries, if not all, had to go through challenges at one time or the other in their lives and this is our time, so we should continue to remain committed, focused and determined to ensure that we address the issues that we face today.

“And the issues are very clear, especially the security situation. The economic situation is something that affects the entire world but we can still come out stronger after the COVID-19 pandemic.

“While we celebrate the Diamond Jubilee Anniversary of our country as a sovereign nation, the occasion is also auspicious for sober reflection on the progress that we have made, the challenges that we face and the future that we desire as a nation.”

He explained that “in spite of challenges such as the differences in tongue, modes of worship and other elements of diversity posed to nationhood, we have remained together.

“Our national journey may have been tortuous, our progress slow and unsteady, and primordial fears and sentiments may occasionally cast dark clouds over our unity and threaten our resolve to stick together.

“But if we look at great nations throughout history, we would realise that such experiences are common features of nation-building.”

He, however, said that as legislators, the National Assembly would continue to provide true representation to the Nigerian people and strive to make government work.

Lawan said that in this regard, the ninth National Assembly was committed to having another look at the country’s Constitution with a view to making it a document of the Nigerian people.