 Mr. Emra Ilgen, president of the Ufuk Dialogue, thank you very much for the very kind invitation to join you at this 10th anniversary dinner. And I bring you the very warm greetings and felicitations of the president, President Mohamed Buhari, who also wishes the Ufuk Dialogue very happy 10th anniversary. Congratulations to the Ufuk Dialogue Foundation on 10 years of significance and impact. Your work in promoting unity and peace through inclusive dialogue has been nothing short of priceless. The impact of platforms like this builds on an honest commitment to fostering peace and productive nationhood can be missed by the imperceptible, but they constitute the foundational principles upon which all great civilizations are built. Principles such as dialogue, consensus, mutual understanding and respect, a celebration of diverse perspectives and cultures that translates into a solid, colorful whole. And this kind of diversity in many ways is what constitutes the beauty and magic of Nigeria. It's not hard to imagine how much more force we can be when we fully harness the opportunities that our multi-ethnic, multicultural and multi-religious makeup present to us. And this is where your work in Ufuk Dialogue, in advocating and espousing dialogue and creating bridge-building platforms and opportunities has proved its importance. We wholeheartedly commend you. At the root of what we consider to be the resilience of Nigeria as an entity and perhaps Nigerians as a people is a history of constant negotiations. We've not always gotten it right, but we've never stopped talking. We've never stopped reaching across our subtle and sometimes not so subtle divides to forge an understanding of each other and to fashion out evolving systems for our mutual existence. We've done this past and unfortunate civil war and through several iterations of our republic and we must and will continue to do this. It is true that the last two decades we've faced severe threats to our mutual coexistence. Violent extremism in the north has resulted in the northeast in particular, has resulted in the destruction and unfortunate loss of lives of many. Banditry and kidnappings have traumatized families and rattled states in parts of the country. Just and also we've seen agitations, secessionist agitations, especially in parts of the south and the east of Nigeria in particular. These have affected and slowed down economic activities in those parts of the region. Our government led by Mr. President is frontally confronting these security challenges and will relentlessly continue to do so, fully aware of their socioeconomic and psychological impact on Nigerians everywhere. And we Nigerians and we as Nigeria will surely prevail. But there are no simple solutions as we effectively bring the full power of government to bear in tackling insecurity and its threats to our collective existence. We must also mind some of the underlying issues that give rise to them. In many instances, these are factors of shared greed and naked criminality. Yes, there are also genuine grievances on the suspicions and fears, feelings of exclusion and marginalizations, misunderstandings and differences of opinion, all of which can be resolved to the benefit of the whole through sustained dialogue and negotiation. The fact remains that nationhood is a hard one endeavor that requires the sincere efforts of leaders who are willing to sacrifice some of their personal interests to achieve a consensus that is win-win for all, leaders not only from within government, but across every sphere of influence. We need great personal examples along religious and ethnic lines more than ever before. Men and women of influence willing to go one step ahead of the rhetoric to demonstrate the true meaning of brotherhood and why the common humanity that binds us as Nigerians is greater than the difference that makes us or maxes out as unique. Leaders who stoke our fears and suspicions of each other as a means of advancing their own personal quest for power and private enrichment are all around us. This unfortunately has not only served to perpetuate a sense that the leadership elites, including some social and religious leaders, seek only their own interests. But the truth is that though poverty in my language might be different from yours, its effects are agnostic. Hunger respects neither tribe, religion, nor political affiliation. Even though we sometimes speak of the importance of dialogue and unity in terms of necessary compromise, the truth is living and working together as one people is also a matter of self-interest because we stand to gain more from it. We stand to gain more from being together than otherwise. Achieving sustained and productive nationhood gives us all access to each other's strengths just as it covers our witnesses. Beyond the finite resources that we find beneath our soils are infinite amounts of talent spread across our country. And even as we speak, the Nigerian football team, the Super Eagles, are doing us proud in Cameroon, outclassing their opponents one match at a time at the ongoing nation's cup. Making up the team are Nigerians from across ethnic lines and religions. They are inspiring dribble from the Igbo man. They threw pass from the Hauser player. The goal by the Maverick Ishekiri guy, or the striker of Yoruba origin, all count for Nigeria. We all count for Nigeria. No matter where we come from, no matter what faith we profess or what language we speak, we have Nigeria in us. We are Nigeria, and indeed Nigeria is us. Only recently, the world lost a global icon at Bishop Desmond Tutu, an exemplary leader who, in a time of great reckoning, set an inspiring example of forgiveness, of tolerance, of peaceful coexistence for the rest of the world. But at Bishop Tutu's lasting legacy is a credo of Ubuntu, the notion that a person is a person through other people, that my humanity is tied to yours. And as a great at Bishop, so beautifully rendered it in his own words, and I quote, he says, we think of ourselves far too frequently as just individuals separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole world. When you do well, it spreads out. It is for the whole of humanity, end of quote. Variety and diversity are to be enjoyed and not weaponized. It is the wisdom of unity that makes the different sounds and tones symphony and not chaos. Let the symphony become louder. Let me again congratulate the Ofuk Dialogue Foundation on your 10th anniversary, and to wish you greater success in the years to come. Thank you very much, everyone, for listening. God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.