 The real enemy of the people are those who are engaged in state-capturing politicians irrespective of political affiliation and are part of this capture. However, Nigeria must continue to fight for the rights of over 200 million citizens and never give up. This was the submission of an economist at Tedo-Petersite while delivering his keynote speech at the Fort Nigerian Leadership Colloquium in honor of Pastor Itua Igudalos' 63rd birthday titled, Mistakes Nigeria Made, held in Lagos, plus TV News Correspondent Love Ikuku Oyedoko tells more in this report. In the annual colloquium in honor of the lead pastor of the Trinity House Church, Lagos Pastor Itua Igudalos, as it clocks, says the three. Fourth in a series, the church auditorium of the Trinity House, just like the previous ones, brought together technocrats, captains of industries, academics, intellectuals, politicians, amongst others. For over three hours, they knocked horns in trying to unravel many unanswered questions, surrounding the many mistakes the entity called Nigeria has made, as well as charts, a way forward. In his keynote address, the chairman of ANAP just limited at Tedo-Petersite identified the 1960s schools and the civil war among nine major mistakes Nigeria made. He also listed the introduction of religion in politics, but it elates as major mistakes made by the country, among others. In the aftermath of the elections in the western region, politicians failed to curb the excesses of their supporters. If they had curbed those excesses and toned down and there was peace, I doubt if there would have been the coup in January 1966. So if you're following my train of thought, the mistake was an inability or refusal to curb the excesses of your supporters. We are still prone to making that mistake periodically. A panel of discussions include a veteran journalist Ruben Abati, Professor Olubukola Oyawie at Tedo-Petersite and General Ike Wachiku. While prof Olubukola called for repentance on the part of all Nigerians, Dr. Abati held strongly that the mistakes of 1914 is what must be corrected. We are making mistakes of not existing together, of discrimination, of corruption, of inadequate coercion and unforgiveness because we never forget. We would always remember an Igbo man hurt you 20 years ago. You're taking it back on an innocent Igbo boy who did not do anything wrong to you. Look at other nations that are making progress, not the kind of thing we have here. There's a sense of identity, that same word I got from the presentation by General Wachiku. Okay, what makes us a Nigerian? I think we have not yet resolved that matter. I think the attitude of most people is that we just belong to different nations. For at Tedo-Petersite, part of the mistakes Nigerians made was the destruction of standards in the civil service by the military. While lamenting that a country has never adopted global best practices in resolving crisis, General Wachiku noted that the political system is compromised and needs to be changed. The president said that the president's system is not the best for Nigeria. It's too expensive. And given such awesome powers to just one individual's president, it's a total mistake. One word that re-verbited on the lips of attendees was that the youth population must be captured through education. Education is key. Getting into AI for the youth is very key. Dragging the whole country along from an environmental management position is also key. We must take what we want and create it, no matter how difficult. But I see that most of us are waiting for things to be handed down to us. But each of us can do something, no matter how little. And for the man in whose honor the colloquium is held, pasto itua egodalo strongly believe that Nigeria is better together than apart. Both the terms for that togetherness must be discussed and agreed. The first thing Nigeria should do is that if you call yourself a Nigerian, we must be given the opportunity to sit around the table and say, what do you want out of this Nigeria? You know, if you are the father of the house and your children have grown, you must sit around the table with them and ask them what they want so that you know exactly what to provide for them. We shouldn't assume and we shouldn't take for granted and we shouldn't force people together into any kind of relationship. At 63, one of the things pasto itua egodalo says it looks forward to is a great Nigeria where everyone will be happy. Hello, hope you enjoyed the news. Please do subscribe to our YouTube channel and don't forget to hit the notification button so you get notified about fresh news updates.