Awosika retires, calls for national unity

ABUJA—Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Power, Dr. Dere Awosika, has called on Nigerian leaders and its people to collectively work towards sustaining the country as one indivisible entity in the interest of all.
Awosika made the appeal on Tuesday, when she launched her book, Footprints in Time: ‘Dere Awosika, to mark her 60th birthday and retirement from public service.

Present at the launch was President Goodluck Jonathan, who described her as “a woman of great substance.”
Awosika, daughter of Nigeria’s first Finance Minister, Festus Okotie-Eboh , said the country was segmented into 774 local governments and 9, 555 wards for the convenience of governance.
According to her, if any part of the structure falls apart, the entire nation would suffer greatly.
She said:  “We are trying as a nation. At any opportunity that God gives me , I like to say that we belong to one system. If you cut one ward out, you cut Nigeria out.
“It could be just the dangerous ward that you are cutting out, because one state out, you cut Nigeria out. It could be just that state that will give us the best for that season, because there is a season for everything.
Awosika stressed the need for the country to put competence above religion or ethnicity, noting that competenc was the key word.
She also called on every citizen to play his/her  part in governance, describing government as a multi-stake holding structure
“It is not necessary where you come from or your tribe, because it does not do the work. Your religion does the work only when it affects you as a person.
“We must strive to build a system where the head works, where the legs work, where the hands work, where the fingers works, where everything works together for the good of this nation.