 Let me commend the Africa Polling Institute for convening this very important forum to discuss the ever-topical theme of sustainable peace, national unity, and social cohesion. The selection of the subject could not have been more timely. There is indeed no better time to reflect on the verities upon which our union is built and to put forward ideas that can promote commonality. An abiding feature of being a Nigerian, as we've heard repeatedly today, is our optimism. We are forever hopeful about our prospects, and this is not necessarily a fanciful belief in miracles or some kind of slothful reliance on happenstance or good fortune. On the contrary, our capacity for hope is a creative optimism. Every day, millions of our people, armed with their faith, their skills, their determination, and their wits take their destinies into their hands, working hard to forge a better life for themselves and for their families. Nigerians of this ilk are everywhere, repairing, healing, building, trading, and doing business. They believe that tomorrow will yield a greater harvest than that of today, and that as long as they have breath in them, they can change their material conditions. It is this capacity for hope that makes us resilient in the face of sometimes very incredible odds, and even in the teeth of adversity. This is who we are as a people, and it is why I believe that we will prevail over today's tribulations. We are an unbreakable people, and in the face of the challenges confronting us, we must remind ourselves of certain truths. The first is that our present challenges are neither unique nor exceptional. Various nations at various points in their histories underwent similar tribulations, whether it is lifting people out of poverty, promoting economic growth, or securing territory from domestic or foreign enemies, or healing communities, or settling grievances, addressing historical injustices, and forging a common identity in a diverse society, many nations throughout history, and across the world have had to tackle these same tasks. Many are still doing so. It is within our power to address these issues and emerge from them even stronger as a people. The second is that despite the divisive rhetoric of demagogues and the utterances of those who may profit from disharmony, Nigerians do not hate each other. And I think we've heard that said here more than once today. Every day, millions of Nigerians of different ethnicities and creeds commingle, make common cause and forge friendships across our fabled fault lines. They partner to do business, to engage in philanthropy, and advance their political goals. They are trading, they are intermarrying, and migrating across this land in search of better livelihoods. In any diverse society, with such a variety of persuasions and pedigrees, degrees of friction and conflict are inevitable. And while we have our share of such a crimony, the situation does not support the narrative that we're a nation of fragments condemned perpetually to be at each other's throats. What matters is how committed we are to constructive management of diversity and the peaceful resolution of such conflicts. This is where we can and should certainly work much harder. The fair, swift, and equitable dispensation of justice to address both everyday grievances and long-suffered wrongs is essential for fostering social cohesion. And we heard Dr. Abdu talked about transitional justice and the various mechanisms that can bring that about. We must strengthen the institutions which at every level can deliver justice, inclusion and mutual security. In many quarters, there are feelings of alienation and exclusion. And to this point, thirdly, we must recognize the ways in which we perpetuate institutional discrimination and cause people to see their identities as weapons for procuring opportunity, often at the expense of others. We see this whenever Nigerians are denied opportunity on the basis of their state of origin or because they are non-indigens. We see it when in Nigeria that has been resident in a state for all his life is suddenly excluded from admission into an educational institution or an employment opportunity because it's not considered an indigene. When a young Nigerian has served in a particular state during his national youth career and is suddenly excluded from opportunity because he or she is dubbed a non-indigene of the state. Not only do these practices subvert social cohesion, they also feed profound resentments. All Nigerians, by our constitution, have a right to live, work, and enjoy their lives in peace and safety under the law. The classification of Nigerians as indigens and non-indigens is a form of apartheid and contradicts our declared aspirations towards equality and unity. Our constitution enjoins the government to secure full residence rights for every citizen in all parts of the Federation. And this is an imperative that we commit to as a government across all states and chairs of government. And I think it's important to point out that it is all chairs of government. The federal government does not do admissions in states, does not carry out the functions of state governments. State governments have their own autonomy to carry out those functions and how people live in the states. So it's important for the sub-national and the local governments to see their role in all of what is being said. All that should matter in evaluating ourselves is where we live and where we will fulfill our civic obligations. I should not pay tax in Lagos and be considered a non-indigene of Lagos. But for that matter, be excluded from any of the political, social, or economic activities in that state. This is why when we launched our social investment programs, the eligible beneficiaries were selected based on their states of residence and none was discriminated against on any basis. So if you lived in any local government, wherever you were from, so long as you applied and met the requirements, you were taken on. And that is still the case with the social investment programs, especially the N-Power scheme and the several others. Now, this was in keeping with the idea that the only true path to national progress lies in broadening access to opportunity for all Nigerians without qualification. Our constitution guarantees a full portfolio of civil liberties and is the responsibility of government at all levels to give life to these provisions. For example, states should, as a matter of deliberate policy, ensure the freedom of worship and provide spaces in which citizens can lawfully erect places of worship. That is a constitutional right. That is a constitutional enablement which has to be enforced at the state level and indeed at the local government level. As we address the challenge of insecurity and the profusion of threats to public safety, we are increasingly turning to multi-level policing strategies and are consulant and some of these multi-level strategies are consulant with our federal architecture. It is important that the localized security mechanisms being established by subnational authorities are constituted in an inclusive manner and reflect the true diversity of those that live in those communities. This way, the whole community will gain a sense of belonging and more importantly feel that they have a stake in protecting their homesteads from criminals. No truly sustainable security umbrella can be built on the basis of exclusion. And so when we talk of community policing and civil policing at the various levels, it's important to recognize that in every one of those communities, we have a diversity of people. So we cannot set up ethnic militias or ethnic civil protection groups and expect that people will feel protected. On a related note, we must also ensure that the actions of criminal elements do not divide our communities and destroy relations that have been built over generations. When a disagreement arises between individuals or a criminal act is committed by one against the other, we must ensure that we see it for what it is, a criminal act which must be punished according to the law and not necessarily an ethnic conflict. Criminals must not be seen or treated as anything other than as criminals and certainly not as representatives of any ethnic or religious group. By the same token, it is unjust to criminalize or harass entire communities for the crimes alleged to have been committed by some of their members. No aspect of our jurisprudence ascribes guilt on the basis of ethnic or religious affiliation or punishes groups for the crimes of individuals. We will not defeat crime by dividing ourselves. We can only overcome it by uniting against our common enemy, the criminals who terrorize our people. Hopefully, let me stress that our diversity is not the problem. It is the allocation of access to social, economic and political opportunities on the basis of identity that frequently for men's strife because people are compelled to emphasize their ethnic and religious identities to access opportunity. There is a tremendous incentive to engage in polarizing identity politics and to mobilize along even smaller group identities. Under these circumstances in times of adversity, when resources are scarce, people tend to see their fellow citizens as competitors and rivals instead of compatriots and eventually begin to demonize each other as enemies. Many of us have grown accustomed to articulating our socioeconomic and political grievances in the language of tribal fragmentation and disintegration. It is an inaccurate and dangerous framing of the issues, but this is part of the challenge of having to create sufficient social and economic opportunities for one of the fastest growing young populations in what is one of the world's most plural societies. In this context, many of the calls for separatism and secession I, in my opinion, best understood, not as cries for self-determination, but as a desire for self-actualization. I remain convinced that the majority of Nigerians want to succeed, not secede, from Nigeria. They want to succeed in this nation and they believe that this nation offers them the best opportunity to do so. These voices of separatism tend to overlook the strength of the social, economic, and filial bonds that keep us together and this brings me to my fifth point. We must acknowledge and harness the natural and man-made strategic assets that make an economic necessity, that make unity an economic necessity for us. Since ancient times, trade has always linked our diverse communities and remains a true Nigerian ethic. From our huge open-air markets everywhere, which are nodes of vast trading networks, to the luxury boss fleets and the haulage businesses that traverse the length and breadth of this nation all day and all night, there's a vibrant dynamic informal economy that is often overlooked when discussing our collective prospects as a people. Our size and population offers a large domestic market which provides entrepreneurs and investors with deep wells of demand for goods and services. Our long history of internal trade has created synergies between our communities which have become strengthened over the course of centuries. Places like Onitsha, Shadamu, Lagos, Kano, and Aba are trading terminals serving vast local and transnational supply chains. Indeed, our principal cities all developed around trade. Our size also means that we have a much larger expanse of territory within which our people can venture to seek their fortune. There is now a dense web of socioeconomic mutuality that has created strong bonds of complementarity among our people. The truth is that Nigeria has evolved beyond the sort of easy balkanization that is proposed by some separatists. Politicians who continue to traffic in division and discord are behind the times and have failed to take note of how much more integrated our society has become. We're obviously not as united as we would like to be but national integration is a journey. And I must say that we may well be further along that path. Our destinies have become so interlinked as to being separable. This is why this administration has invested heavily and continues to invest in transportation infrastructure, road, rail, sea, and river ports. To reduce the distances between our people and link localities to markets and enable trade, travel, and tourism. All over the world, the dominant tendency is convergence today, not divergence. In other words, people are coming together to create larger and deeper markets which mean the broadening of opportunities for mutual economic gain. Nigeria has what it takes to perform and operate favorably in this world. Our geographical location has positioned us as a regional gateway. We are at an important intersection between North and Central Africa and the nexus between Anglophone, Lucophone, and Francophone regions. We have access to the Atlantic Ocean and therefore to one of the busiest maritime trade corridors. In terms of geoeconomics, these attributes access to the sea and therefore not being landlocked in large territory and a sizable population all make the difference to our chances and to any nation's chances of prosperity and growth. The enormous advantages of large markets is why all of Africa is today signing up to the African continental free trade agreement to make us the largest free trade zone in the entire world. Certainly Africa's largest market, Nigeria, will be a great loser if we were to break up when we see the greatest economic advantage to our size about to come to life. In short, staying together as a collective affords each of our communities far more opportunities for prosperity than they would have if they were in their separate ways. We have all that it takes to be truly more than the sum of our parts. And it's our responsibility to harness and consolidate these assets for the common good of all Nigerians. We will continue to work hard to create an umbrella of inclusive prosperity over our people. This is the defining task of our generation. Let me conclude. When we highlight our resilient character, this is not to downplay the challenges confronting us. It is clear that we must renew the social contract and deepen the meaning and durability of our citizenship. Nation building is hard work and it's an intergenerational endeavor. It's also about how we express our humanity. In 2019, I have the honor of receiving Malam Abdullah Iyabubaka, an 83-year-old Islamic cleric who saved the lives of hundreds of Christians from terrorists in Bakinladi in Plateau State. On June 23, 2018, Malam Abdullah Iyubaka and his assistant, Umar Abdullah, hid and rescued over 200 people inside the mosque in his home. These were Christians fleeing from terrorists. He insisted that those who he had given refuge were his guests and that the bandits would have to kill him before they would do harm to anyone under his roof. In this instant, it did not matter that Malam Abdullah Iyubaka's Hausa or that his assistant was full of it, or that the people that they protected was at great risk to their own lives, or that these people were of a different faith or different ethnicity. All that mattered was their shared humanity which transcends fault lines of tribe, of tongue and creed. And part of my hope for our country lies in the heroism and humanity of people like Malam Abdullah Iyubaka. And examples like this are common, far more common than we appreciate. Earlier this year, Shasha Market in Ibadan, another of our great trading localities where Nigerians from the North and South have come for generations, have intermised and co-existed, was beset by rioting and killings. The incident was widely reported as an ethnic conflict between the Hausers and the Yoruba's. However, on the ground, as reported by Premium Times of February 19, 2021, members of both groups protected and shielded each other from harm. A resident of the community, Alaji Adamo, testified that it was his Yoruba neighbors who saved him from being killed by hoodlums and they took him to hospital to receive treatment. Another Yoruba resident of the area, Ron Keremu, told of how it was her Hausa neighbors in the market that saved her from being lynched and how one of the Hausa member rescuers was shot while trying to ensure her safety. Just recently, when Joss was tragically plagued by a bout of violence, reports emerged of how some Christians had rescued Muslims from their cellars. According to the daily trust of August 16, 2021, I think it was just last week, one of the survivors, Mohammed Ibrahim, narrated his rescue by a Christian tricycle operator who had helped him, disguised him with a face cap, cut and driven him out of the chaos into the city where he alighted at the Joss Central Mosque. The Secretary General of the Jamatsu Nasir Islam in Plateau State, Alaji Sani Moudi, also testified that some of the victims were rescued by Christians, saying that the first person rescued was brought to the Joss Central Mosque by an Ibu resident. I cite these stories of common humanity and shared heroism to make my final point. In the battle for the soul of this nation, we tend to overemphasize what the forces of hate, terror and anarchy are doing, ignoring the fact that there are forces of peace and humanity in this fight also and that they represent all that is good in us. What matters is whether we are building or destroying the nation by our acts and by our words. Neutrality is not an option and we must speak aside knowing that we cannot build in Nigeria that works for all of us with bricks of hatred. Our resilience as a nation owes a great deal to this truth that Nigerians are a deep, warm, peace-loving human people and that they are capable of great courage and compassion. Our task as a people, as a collective, whether we be government or civil society, is to strengthen and transform our institutions so that they can better reflect our best values. On this note, I'd like to again congratulate the Africa Polling Institute for producing this hugely important work of social research. I have no doubt that the insights it contains will drive a more informed and constructive debate about our nation's present and our nation's future. Thank you very much for listening.