Vice President Kashim Shettima has urged Nigerians to embrace each other to fight poverty, destitution and backwardness.

Mr Shettima gave the advice in Masaka, Nasarawa State while commissioning the 5-km Masaka-Luvu road in Karu Local Government of the state on Thursday.

The vice president also emphasised the need for all citizens to learn to live together in peace to enhance national security, progress and development.

“There can never be any meaningful development without peace,” said Mr Shettima, who recalled his visit to Plateau State ot commiserate with residents over Christmas Eve attacks by suspected herdsmen.

“As Martin Luther King rightly said, ‘We either learn to live together as brothers, or we perish together as fools’. It is inconsiderable for any community to be an island unto itself.

“We have to learn to embrace each other, to tolerate one another, and for us in Northern Nigeria, we are all united by our heritage of poverty and destitution.

“I see no reason why we should be fighting each other instead of collectively fighting poverty, destitution and backwardness in our states,” said the vice president.

Mr Shettima, the special guest of honour at the event, used the opportunity to commend Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa for maintaining peace in his domain.

He called on Nigerians to resist acts that could lead to anarchy.

“There are agents of destruction, purveyors of death, who are trying to inflame passion in most of the volatile parts of the North, but we should resist the temptation to plunge us into a state of anarchy.

“It is easy to cause chaos but very difficult to bring back peace. Your Excellency, continue your good works of maintaining peace,” he said.

Mr Shettima said the Nigerian government, under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu, was committed to providing infrastructure across the country.

He revealed that the school feeding programme would be introduced across the length and breadth of Nigeria in 2024.

“It is absolutely essential because the grey matter infrastructure of a growing child is very important in realising his or her full potential.

“So this is vitally important, and the president has a lot of empathy for those on the lower strata of the society, he said.

Earlier, Mr Sule thanked the vice president for personally accepting to commission the road, which he said has a lot of history attached to it.

The governor added that the dream of constructing the road started 15 years ago.

Mr Sule expressed delight that the road had been completed during his tenure.

(NAN)