Nigeria Must Unite Against Religious and Ethnic Bias – Runsewe

• Director General Runsewe urges Nigerians to unite against ethnic and religious bias, emphasizing the need for national growth
• Runsewe praises “Random Nigerianna” book for promoting unity and diversity, stating it will be distributed to cultural establishments

Otunba Olusegun Runsewa, Director General of the National Council for Arts and Culture, has stated that Nigerians must unite against forces of ethnic and religious bias that seek to divide the country.

He stated this yesterday in Abuja at the book launch of Halima Dalhatu’s “Random Nigerianna.”

The event’s chairman, Runsewe, stated;

Nigeria has suffered and lost so much due to ethnic and religious sentiments, hence the need for a gradual re-orientation on the need to gradually put sentiments aside and work together for national growth and development.”

Random Nigerianna preaches our unity in diversity and serves as a motivation to spur our youths to greatness,” Runsewe said of the book. As part of our agency’s mandate, we will ensure that the book is distributed to all cultural establishments in all 36 states to preach our unity.

Previously, the author, Halima Dalhatu, stated that the 114-page book, her first, “was conceived out of the desire to change the narrative about Nigeria and its huge diversity and preaching the gospel of unity amongst diverse ethnic groups and religion.”

N5bn Palliative, Grant To States Shambolic, Unscientific – ACF Spokesman

Professor Tukur Muhammad-Baba, spokesman for the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), described the N5 billion in palliatives and grant to the state government as shambolic and unscientific.

In an interview, Muhammad-Baba, a Professor of Sociology, stated that there is no reason to give the same amount to Lagos, Oyo, Kano, and Bayelsa states because their populations and statistics of eligible people differ.

He said;

I am not happy about such blanket distribution of N5 billion to each state. In the first place, there is no basis for the distribution. I mean, if you are looking for poor people, are you allocating the same amount to Bayelsa, Lagos, Oyo, and Kano states, and you expect it to make an impact?

This shows that we are doing things like what grammar people call ‘hunter’s pack’. You don’t plan, you don’t strategize, you just came out and made an announcement on that. There is no basis for sharing money to states on an equal basis.