PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari Sunday said that the country
should not spend her resources and energy debating disintegration...
President
Buhari The President also said that the noises in some quarters about the
division of the country was part of the rebirth going on, adding that God had
designed that the country will be together. President Buhari spoke Sunday in
his address on the occasion of the Eid- Kabir hosted by his wife Aisha Buhari
as part of the Sallah festivities said what was required by every citizen was
sacrifice so as to take the nation to the destiny designed by God. The
President represented by the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo at the
gathering at the Old Banquet Hall, Presidential Villa, Abuja, said the nation God
had in mind while bringing every ethnic nationalities together was a diverse
nation. Although President Buhari was unable to be present at the occasion
because he was celebrating Sallah at his home town Daura having been away from
his country home for over a year said he held the belief that Nigeria will
remain together. According to him, “The significance of this celebration is the
willingness of Abraham to make the great sacrifice of possibly the dearest
thing to him, his son Isaac. “Obviously, anyone who knows anything at all about
the kinds of things that…..it is a willingness to make a great sacrifice. And
Abraham was able to make that sacrifice. “And he made it in order to be able to
fulfill his own destiny and the destiny of his people. “The message today is
that our nation’s elites, Muslims, Christians and all ethnicities must
recognize that we also must make sacrifices, the sacrifices that are necessary
to attain the destiny that God has brought unto our people. “I am one of those
who is extremely confident that our nation will remain united because I am
convinced that God’s plans and purpose for Nigeria is that we would be the
preeminent black nation in the world.” Continuing, the President said the
country would continue to show forth in culture, in technology and in commerce
which he stated was God’s investment in the black race. He said, “This is why
today for every … four or five blacks, some people say one must be a Nigerian.
That is not a mean attainment at all. “That nation that God has in mind is a
diverse nation. Diverse in resources, in ideas, in opinions. “The kind of
nation that we have, where there is an argument about something everywhere,
before you get tired of that lone argument, another one arise and before you
finish with that one there is yet another one. “This is the type of country
that God has ordained where we have diversity of opinions, diversity of ideas.
People saying their own things here and there. “But, He has also planned that
this country will remain together, and that we will be a nation that is gifted
just as we have the oil, the gas, and the most arable lands than most
continents. “This is a country that has all of what other countries will travel
and spend money looking for the sort of resources that we have. All of the
tourism resources that we have people will travel everywhere looking for it.
“It is a nation of men and women so creative and prosperous. That we will feed
the entire continent and create opportunities for the world. All the different
ethnic groups are important in that arrangement. “On every ethnicity,
incredible minds, brilliant and creative people doing all manner of things.
“Our energies and resources shouldn’t be spent again on debate about division.
Our manifest destiny is to be a great nation, not to be a nation where we are
talking about division. “We must focus out time, our energies and our resources
on being that great nation that God has called us to be. “I think we have
started building that country already. “Despite all the noise that we hear, all
that noise is part of the building. Everybody knows that you cannot have birth
without noise. No woman delivers a baby without some noise and without some
pains. “What we are hearing today are the noises and the pains of that great
nation that God is about to give birth to.” Wife of the President, Aisha Buhari
thanked Nigerians for the prayers offered for her husband’s speedy recovery
while he was bedridden in a United Kingdom (UK) hospital. Represented by the
Minister of Interior, Lt Gen Abdulrahman Dambazzau, she urged Nigerians to
support the administration’s effort to sustain the peace and development in the
country. She said, “Without development there will be no peace and without
peace there will be no development.” Messages from other speakers including the
representative of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) , Rev Israel
Akanji, and Special Assistant to the President on Prosecution, Okoi Obono- Obla
centered on Nigeria’s unity.
No comments: