Nigerians must rise in defence of democracy, says Fayemi

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THE Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Kayode Fayemi, has urged Nigerians to rise to the defence of democracy in order to advance the development of the country.

Fayemi, who is also the Ekiti State Governor, made the appeal during a courtesy visit to the Canadian Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Nicolas Simard, at his residence.

The visit by the NGF Chairman was part of his shuttle diplomacy to representatives of the diplomatic corps in Nigeria.

This, according to the NGF Secretariat, is one of the initiatives aimed at engendering inter-governmental synergy between global governments at the subnational level.

The Head, Media and Public Affairs of the NGF, Abdulrazaque Bello-Barkindo, explained that Fayemi paid similar visits to the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China and that of the Republic of South Africa.

He said, “In all the three meetings, Dr Kayode Fayemi discussed issues of bilateral importance between the countries and their governments at the subnational level, including citizens engagements, economic progress of the federating states, youth mobilization and organisation, and women’s empowerment.

“Other issues that graced the conversation between the NGF Chairman and the three ambassadors include revenue generation, the economy, education, infrastructure development among many others.

“Both the NGF Chairman and the Canadian ambassador agreed that organisations like the NGF are the best platforms for healthy debates with the central governments on issues like restructuring, citizens engagement and internal and external security.”