Prominent Nigerian leaders have harped on the need for national unity through peaceful cohesion as a panacea to sustainable growth and development in the country.

The leaders, including the National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, Director-General of the Department of State Services Mr. Oluwatosin Ajayi, Benue State Governor Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia, and Gombe State Governor and Chairman of the Northern Governors Forum, Inuwa Yahaya, among others, made the call in Kaduna at the weekend during the wedding ceremony of Josephine Tirnok, first daughter of Northern CAN Chairman, Rev. Joseph John Hayab, and her husband Shadrach Ojima-Ojo.

NSA Ribadu, who served as the father of the day, was represented by the DG DSS, who was also the special guest of honour alongside the chairman of the Northern Governors Forum and Governor of Gombe State, Inuwa Yahaya, while Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia served as the chairman of the occasion.

The leaders urged citizens to embrace mutual respect and collaboration, stressing that national development and peace require collective commitment.

Speaking at the event, Governor Alia, represented by Rev. Fr. Gabriel Ngbea, a federal commissioner with the Federal Civil Service Commission representing Nasarawa, Benue, and Plateau States, lauded the couple for their union and reminded them to anchor their marriage on faith, moral values, and the support of loved ones.

Alia said marriage was an institution by God and admonished the couple to build their home on God’s foundation that can never fail.

In his remarks, Governor Inuwa said that marriage is the most important institution in the world and urged the couple to make their home a model of peace, while lamenting that failure in most homes has contributed to many challenges facing the country.

Represented by the Deputy Governor of Gombe State, His Excellency, Manasseh Daniel Jatau, tasked the couple to distinguish between the excitement of the wedding day and the lifelong responsibility of marriage and advised them to prepare for the realities of commitment, forgiveness, and growth, and to rely on their strong Christian backgrounds, family support, and faith in God.

Speaking with journalists shortly after the event, the father of the bride and chairman of Northern CAN, Rev. Joseph John Hayab, urged Nigerian parents to embrace intercultural marriages as a pathway to healing the country’s divisions.

Describing the union as a symbolic model of the harmony Nigeria needs, Hayab said intercultural and interreligious marriages remain practical tools for breaking barriers and building trust among diverse communities. He urged parents to allow their children to choose partners based on love and compatibility rather than tribe or religion.

He explained that the peace Nigerians seek must begin from the home, noting that families that embrace diversity contribute directly to national stability.

He encouraged his daughter and her husband to build a home founded on patience and understanding, stressing that strong marriages evolve through growth and sacrifice. Hayab, who marks thirty years of marriage in two days, expressed confidence that his daughter would build an even stronger one.

Others present at the occasion included the representative of the Kaduna State Governor, Senator Uba Sani, represented by his Chief of Staff Mallam Sani Kila Liman; Deputy Governor of Kaduna State, Dr. Hadiza Sanbuwa Balarabe; Commissioners of the Kaduna State Government; Mrs. Abigail Marshall Katung; Mayor of Leeds and wife of Senator Marshall Katung; Chairman of the Kaduna State Internal Revenue Board, Mr. Jerry Adams; Hafsatu Aminu Ashiru, Private Secretary to the Deputy Governor; Mrs. Charity Shekari, wife of the late former Deputy Governor Stephen Shekari; local government chairmen; religious leaders, among others. (The Nation)