Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) and Governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi, has called on Nigerians to rise and defend democracy in the country with a view to advancing the development.
He made the call during a call on the Canadian Ambassador to Nigeria, Nicolas Simard, at his residence.
A statement by Head, Media and Public Affairs, NGF Secretariat, Abdulrazaque Bello-Barkindo, said the visit was part of Fayemi’s shuttle diplomacy to representatives of the diplomatic corps in Nigeria, which is one of the initiatives of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum secretariat towards engendering inter-governmental synergy between global governments at the subnational level.
Both the NGF chairman and the Canadian ambassador agreed that organisations like the NGF were the best platforms for healthy debates with the central governments on issues like restructuring, citizens engagement and internal and external security.
Fayemi rationalised that to advance development, it is always in order, to engage countries of interest and their diplomatic representatives to share their understanding of events in their host countries and learn from the experiences of their past.
Specifically, the NGF chairman told the Canadian ambassador that Nigeria has made “remarkable strides in gender equality with the Nigeria Governors’ Wives in the forefront and their husbands, the governors, as cheer-leaders.”
Fayemi buttressed that 27 states, including those that were hitherto considered conservative, have signed the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act, as evidence of their commitment to mitigating violence against women in the societies.
Simard said he has only been in Nigeria for six months, disclosing there are 12,000 Nigerians in Canada, 5,000 of which are students, adding that there is a $12 million trade relations between the two countries.
Simard added that there are remarkable similarities between Canada and Nigeria and that Canada had also experienced calls by secessionists that Nigeria is currently experiencing, and expressed willingness to help the country in understanding how to find solutions to them.
By Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye,
The Sun