By Charles Kumolu & Gbenga Oke

THE 60th  birthday of the senator representing Bayelsa East in the Senate, Sen Ben Muray-Bruce, was a platform to task Nigerians on the imperative of  patriotism to resolve the  challenges bedeviling the country.

Drawing on what was described as the patriotic attitude of Murray-Bruce to national concerns, it was unanimously agreed that patriotism is critical to the application of common sense to national question.

The well attended event, held in Lagos, also witnessed the presentation of a book authored by the celebrator entitled: The Common Sense As The Pathway To Unleashing Nigeria’s Greatness.

The forum was  attended by top serving and former political office holders, captains of industry, members of the diplomatic corps and veterans  and leading artistes, among others.

At the gathering,  anchored by a former Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr. Odien Ajumogobia were, ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, represented by a former governor of Cross River State, Mr. Donald Duke; Deputy Senate President, Sen Ike Ekweremadu; Senate Minority Leader, Sen Godswill Akpabio, Senate Committee Chairman on Federal Capital Territory, Sen Dino Melaye, former Governor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel; a former governor of Anambra State; Mr. Peter Obi; a  former governor of Ekiti, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, and a  former Ebonyi State governor, Sen Sam Egwu.

Others are the President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote; a former Managing Director of Zenith Bank, Mr. Jim Ovia;  a  former Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu;  Prof Pat Utomi; Mr. Francis Muray-Bruce;  Mr. Timi Alaibe;  Sen Eyinnaya Abaribe;  Otunba Gani Adams; Sen Gbenga Ashafa and Chief Ebitimi Banigo among others.

In his remarks  the  chairman of the occasion, Obasanjo, described Murray-Bruce as a patriotic Nigerian.

On his part,   Ekweremadu said: ‘’Growing old is a gift from God, so I am saying congratulations to you Ben. Many people aspired to celebrate this age but they could not. So you are lucky to be 60 and on behalf of the Senate President and all the National Assembly, we all congratulate you on this feat. Our country is in dire straights right now, we are challenged in every front but we are excited because we have a man like Ben Bruce and we believe there are so many of them in this country who working together can lift our country to get to that position several people are expecting us to be in Africa”.

Similarly, Ovia said: ‘’Ben believes he could make a living from entertainment and from there he started the Most Beautiful Girl In Nigeria, he started a radio station and from there we have Silverbird television. Just before then, he talked of having a cinema.

‘’He has this idea that you must aim for the moon, maybe you will settle at the sky. Ben Bruce remains one of the most patriotic Nigerians have ever known and we need more people like him.’’

Acknowledging the eulogies, Murray-Bruce said: ‘’I have been around for a very long time. My true love is politics, I grabbed it when the opportunity came. We have the leadership of the Senate and House. When I look at the economy and difficulties we have I became crazy about devaluation and came up with a hash tag on made in Nigeria goods. The Senate President has ordered   made in Nigeria cars.   people criticize the Senate but they are misunderstood patriotic Nigerians.