Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, yesterday urged Nigerians to transcend ethnic, religion and regional divisions and rally round the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari to get the country out of its numerous challenges.

He posited that it is the civic responsibility of all Nigerians to make their contributions to make the country great under the exemplary leadership, which we now have.

Gambari, a former Under-Secretary of United Nations, in exclusive telephone as part of activities marking the 56 Independence anniversary, said with the determination and commitment of President to end insecurity, corruption and diversify the economy, Nigeria will turnaround for the better.

He stated that it was commendable that after the 56 years of assuming the responsibility to rule ourselves, the nation's democracy is being gradually consolidated.

Gambari, however, noted that the country is lagging behind some its peers at independence but expressed optimism that Nigeria will emerge stronger under the present Administration.

"We are not in the topmost league of developed economies but we are expected by now to have gone much further in the direction which our resources and talents would actually qualify us for. What I will say in summary is that we thank God and the resilience of our people that after 56 years, we are one country, territorial integrity is intact, as we have now experienced civilian to civilian transfer of power.

"Our economy, although was over-dependent on oil with robust and has allowed us particularly in the 70s to have a commendable programme on physical infrastructures. I think the huge expansion in higher educational opportunities is also something to be cherished.

"However, we are not where we should be and we are not where we can be. If you look at countries like Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Korea, countries that we were at per with at independence in terms of Gross Domestic Product, they are now far ahead of us.

"So, what we should do now is to intensify our collective effort, rally around our Mr President who has made security, corruption and diversification of our economy top priorities and to support him so that we can begin to really lay the foundation for the take-off to a level that we deserve and not where we are now. It is the people of Nigeria that will make Nigeria great under a good leadership", Gambari said.