The statement said Atiku made the revelation at an interactive session at the Catholic Bishops of Nigeria Conference (CBNC), held in Abuja.
According to the statement, Atiku affirmed that there was no animosity left in the relationship with his former boss, as all were over.
The statement disclosed that Atiku made the declaration in reaction to the anxiety expressed by the Most Reverend Anthony Obinna, Archbishop of Owerri and his counterpart from Calabar, the Most Reverend Joseph Ekuwem, as both clerics were concerned about the face-off between the duo when they were in power between 1999 and 2003.
On the concerns of the clerics on insurgency ravaging the country and accompanying insecurity, the APC presidential frontrunner was quoted to have said that it was the duty of the political and military leadership to crush insurgency whenever and wherever it reared its ugly head.
According to the statement, Atiku reminded the bishops that when he was in government with Obasanjo as president, an insurgent group, known then as Nigerian Taliban, started problem in the North-East, but was crushed within three weeks.
The APC presidential aspirant revealed that the Obasanjo-led administration, in which he was the deputy, moved so fast to uproot the insurgents and many Nigerians till today did not even remember they ever existed.
Speaking on the state of the economy, the APC presidential aspirant said if the nation had been able to diversify and managed its economy in such a way that it conserved rather than waste its resources in surplus years, the present austerity measure would not have been necessary.
He stated that careful management of resources and diversification of the economy was the responsibility of a committed and focused leadership.
In their response, the bishops thanked the presidential aspirant for finding time from his busy schedule to exchange views with them and intimate the Catholic community in the country of his political ambition.
Chairman of the session and president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, the Most Reverend Ignatius Kaigama, who is also the Archbishop of Jos, described Atiku’s presentation as “food for thought, which sounds presidential.”
Atiku urged Nigerians to use the opportunity of the 2015 polls to choose the right person and political party to lead the country.
He identified the issue of indigeneship as a serious impediment to unity among Nigerians.
Atiku said the prevailing situation, where young and innocent Nigerians, who were born in places other than where their parents came from and who had spent their entire lifetime in those parts of the country were discriminated against as non-indigenes, was not good for the country.
The Turaki Adamawa told the bishops that it was unfortunate that a Nigerian would go to the United States or European countries to give birth to a child and the latter would instantly acquire American citizenship, while in Nigeria, indigeneship question dominates our discourse.
Atiku further urged the religious leaders to do their best to reverse the present division and polarization of the nation on religious and ethnic lines, adding that it would not do the nation any good.
source: tribune.com
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