Former top military officers rose from a meeting in Otukpo, Benue State, yesterday with a resolve to contribute to peace building across the religious and ethnic divides in the country.
The officers, who are alumni of the 3rd Regular Course of the Nigeria Defence Academy (NDA), said the peace and unity of Nigeria could not be compromised.
Making the resolution known at the end of the 2012 AGM hosted by its chairman and the president of the Senate, David Mark, its publicity secretary and former transport minister, Rear Admiral Festus Porbeni, pledged the association’s readiness to support the present administration in the task of ensuring peace and progress of the nation.
Porbeni urged Nigerians to rise above mundane and divisive tendencies and face the challenges of nation building.
He said the fight against violence or terrorism in the country should be a challenge to all well-meaning Nigerians, adding that “no nation has ever developed or progressed in the midst of violence.
“As statesmen, we all have a duty to ensure that peace reigns in our communities, states and the nation as a whole.? We cannot sit back and watch the situation deteriorate. We must come together to say no to violence.”