Ex-Minister Labaran Maku calls for preservation of culture, tradition

Mr Labaran Maku, a former Minister of Information, has called on all ethnic groups in Nasarawa State to preserve their culture and tradition from extinction to promote peace and unity,

Maku, a 2015 gubernatorial candidate of All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) in Nasarawa State made the call on Wednesday while addressing different ethnic groups that paid him Christmas homage in his home town, Wakama, Akun Development Area of the state.

“Our culture is dying; culture is one of the ways of promoting tourism, unity. Culture is one of the best ways of making money as well as promoting unity and there is no longer cultural festival in Nasarawa State.

“Why are we not having cultural festival again in Nasarawa State,’’ he said.

Maku said that the call became necessary as a result of the danger posed by lack of proper documentation of cultural history of some ethnic groups in the country.

“The rate at which some aspects of many ethic cultures are disappearing in Nigeria if not checked and urgent steps not taken, Nigerians will wake up one day and discover that all cultures are gone.

“It is important to always document the cultural history in order to save Nigerian indigenous cultures from going to extinction.

“Cultural history and history in general is very important because it enable us to know the past, the present and to plan ahead for the future, hence the need for every tribe to preserve and promote its culture,” he said.

The former minister urged Christians to use the Christmas period to pray for the peace and unity of the nation.

“I use this period to charge us to learn from the love our Lord Jesus Christ showed to us by laying down his life for us.

“This is the type of love God wants us to share among ourselves by living in peace, unity and be our brother’s keeper at all times in the interest of development,” he added.

Maku thanked the various ethnic groups for the visit and urged them to remain united and not to allow themselves to be divided alongside ethnic and religion differences.

He said that if he was elected in as governor in 2019, he would help to reclaim the state’s assets that the state government had planned to sell in Lagos, Kaduna, Jos and Abuja.

Maku called on banks, public and private companies, the people of Nasarawa State not to participate in the sale of the state’s assets in the interest of peace and for the overall development of the state.

The former information minister called on the people of the state to embrace peace and tolerate one another irrespective of ethnic, religious and political affiliation for the overall development of the country.

The ethnic groups that paid him a Christmas homage include Alago, Rindre, Migili, Afo, Mada, Fulani, Eggon among others.