Our Country Needs You – President Buhari Tells Trust Alliance Foundation 4 Change

Our Country Needs You – President Buhari Tells Trust Alliance Foundation 4 Change

Remarks by Muhammadu Buhari, President of The Federal Republic of Nigeria During his audience with the leadership of Trust Alliance Foundation 4 Change.

Protocols:

I will start by welcoming you and commending you for the good work you are doing.

Now more than ever, our country needs forums like yours to promote peaceful co-existence and mutual understanding between our many religious, tribal and political groups.

In the past decade the world has seen some fundamental structural changes. A good example is the digital and cyber revolution that is still reshaping the world as we all know.

In many instances, this development positively impacts billions across the globe. However, on the contrary, the same platforms are used as tools to propagate divisions and hatred.

Nigeria is not isolated from these influences.

We are seeing rising instances where social media platforms are being used to propagate hatred between religious, political and tribal groups. These spiteful messages that incite violence are posted by a handful of unpatriotic people, anonymously. Sponsors of these platforms must take adequate measures to deny purveyors of hatred and division space.

It is only through continuous dialogue and engagement that these menaces can be stopped.

The approach you are taking on community and youth development is in my view the right one. The fact that you are crossing religious, political and ethnic boundaries in your engagement is praiseworthy.

Now we are in the season of political campaigning. Unfortunately, some people will attempt to take this opportunity to propagate their hateful agenda. Therefore, it is our collective responsibility to also step up by preaching tolerance and understanding.

As a Government, we are doing our best. But we need non-Governmental organisations like yours to also support us in delivering the message of peace and unity. After all, we only have one Nigeria – our only country.