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Omeiza Ajayi, Abuja

Presidential Candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has again urged Nigerians to be calm in the face of current challenges, saying it is only with unity of purpose that the country can pull through.

Tinubu gave the charge on Sunday night at the “Meet the Mentor Dinner” organized in his honour by the Progressive Sisters Network PSN, a pro-Tinubu support group.

He said; “As a nation, we are facing some challenges, but we can overcome these challenges. We can find our ways in situations where it seems there is no way. Please let us work together to build the Nigeria of our dreams together.

“I know it is difficult not to look for the easy way in today’s Nigeria, but together with our faith in one another and our nation, we can solve our problems,” he counselled.

According to him, the inability of Nigerians to effectively harness the country’s abundant resources is the bane of the nation’s developmental challenges.

He said as president, he would ensure that the vast resources of the country are effectively harnessed to take the country to its prime position in the comity of nations.

“We will achieve greatness in this country, let us just believe in ourselves”, he declared.

Also speaking, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, harped on the spirit of teamwork, saying Nigerians cannot be working at cross purposes and hope to overcome the nation’s teething challenges.

“The success of our democracy and the progress and prosperity of our nation, therefore, depends on each of us knowing and operating in the knowledge that Nigeria belongs to us all, and we each have a responsibility to pursue what is necessary, to do that which is hard and to make sacrifices to build a nation and leave a legacy of which our successors will be rightly proud.

“And we learned from Asiwaju that the private ambitions of any one individual must never take preeminence over the shared interests of the community, the party, or the country. Some of you in this room will run for office; some already have. You won’t always be successful. There are those whose response to loss is to decide to burn down the house, create chaos and confusion, or sulk away into scheming and sabotage.

“Those of us who came up in the Asiwaju school understand that a loss today is a victory deferred. We know that when you lose in a fair contest, that is the time to rededicate yourself to the good of the community, the institution, the constituency, the state or the country. That is the way of honour, and those who don’t understand this are dangerous to the common good”.

Earlier, National Coordinator, Progressive Sisters Network PSN, Rinsola Abiola, said after a critical assessment of all the candidates jostling for the country’s highest seat, Tinubu towers far above all, hence their resolve to campaign for him among the women folks in the country.

Rinsola, who is the daughter of the acclaimed winner of June 12, 1993, presidential election said the APC flag bearer’s antecedents as governor of Lagos State have made it clear to any Nigerian woman who was still in doubt, that Tinubu was the candidate that deserved her vote.

She said; “Tinubu understands that tackling the issue of women’s under-representation in all spheres of life is something that must be done from different angles: political inclusion, economic empowerment, and girl-child education.

“Lagos, the state which Tinubu once governed and is being managed by his blueprint, also leads the way in legal protection for women.

“With an agency dedicated to diligently prosecuting all forms of domestic and sexual abuse, Lagos has signalled that there will be zero tolerance for the oppression and violation of women.

“It is also key to note that it was Tinubu who appointed the first female Chief Judge in Lagos State: Justice Ibilola Sotuminu now retired.

“His wife, Sen. Oluremi Tinubu, has also shattered records as the first woman in history to serve for three terms in the Nigerian Senate,” Abiola said.

She maintained that a man who had demonstrated equity in his own home would deal with Nigerian women equitably when elected as President.

Abiola then said PSN was supporting the APC candidate and was committed to actualising his presidential ambition because he had demonstrated commitment to the women folk.

“We are dedicated to his campaign because he has dedicated several decades of his life to the country that we all call home.

“From the bitter, drawn-out struggle against military dictatorship to his relentless efforts to steady the ship of our nascent democracy.

“Tinubu has proven himself to be a patriot in every sense of the word and a man who loves Nigeria and can be trusted to lead the country”.