2014 Independence Day Broadcast by
His Excellency, President Goodluck Ebele
Jonathan, GCFR
Wednesday 1st October, 2014
Fellow Nigerians:
1. Today marks the 54th anniversary of our
country’s independence as a sovereign nation.
This is also the tenth month of our journey into a
new century, having marked the centenary of our
nation in January this year.
2. The first one hundred years were marked by
triumphs and tribulations, benefits and burdens,
opportunities and challenges. We made some far
reaching advances in building a strong, united and
prosperous nation. We also overcame the forces
of disunity that culminated in a debilitating civil
war. We have also renewed our faith in one
another, and in our country. We have proven that
we are truly a resilient nation.
3. In my address to the nation last year, I did
emphasize that we were in a sober moment in our
country. We are still in that mood in spite of the
many accomplishments of our administration.
Our sombreness has to do with the crises of
nationhood occasioned by the activities of
terrorist elements who have done the
unimaginable to challenge our unity as a people.
4. On an occasion like this, it is important that we
remember all the precious souls that have been
lost in the unprecedented war of terror unleashed
on some parts of our country by these individuals
who want to compel us to live our lives their way.
They will not succeed!
5. In their mission, they have maimed and raped.
They have killed men, women and children,
rendering many children orphans and several
women widows.
6. They have made violence their ideology and are
bent on destroying our country. Dear
countrymen and women, we will not allow
them.
7. Night after night, day after day, our security
forces continue to engage the terrorists in battle.
My gratitude goes out to our armed forces whose
will has been greatly challenged by this
insurgency more than any other time, since the
civil war.
8. Yet, they have remained undaunted and
unwearied in the face of constant challenge and
mortal danger. Driven by patriotic zeal, they are
turning the tide by their prowess and
determination. As Commander-in-Chief, I will
continue to do all it takes to enable them to keep
on inflicting devastating blows at the heart of
terror. Fellow Nigerians, it is our collective duty as
patriots to avail our men and women in uniform
of all the support they need to fight and win this
war.
9. This Administration is committed to making
Nigeria safe for all Nigerians, irrespective of our
places of birth, how we worship God and our
political persuasion. To all those waging war
against our country, I ask that you lay down your
arms and embrace peace.
10. To those who have genuine grievances, I
affirm that Nigeria will listen to you, if you bring
your grievances to the table of dialogue. To the
good people of Nigeria, let me restate that our
task of building a better and greater country must
not waver.
11. While we continue to deploy our resources in
the fight against the terrorists, we do recognize
the great toll the conflict is taking on our people.
12. This is why, to assist the afflicted, we have
launched the Victims Support Fund, an
independent multi-sectoral charity, which will
aggressively solicit resources to augment
Government’s statutory intervention, in bringing
succour to the injured, the displaced and the
bereaved.
13. In partnership with Nigerian business leaders
and international partners, we have also
introduced the Safe Schools Initiative which is
aimed at promoting safe environments for
education nationwide, starting with the North East
region.
14. The Presidential Initiative for the North
East, a comprehensive programme to fast-track
the economic restoration of this region, which has
been the epicentre of terrorist activity, has been
set up.
15. Our overall objective is to do all we possibly
can, to sustain in the North-East, the momentum
of economic advancement, which is on-going in
other parts of the country, despite the
machinations of the terrorists and their sponsors.
16. It should now be clear to anyone who was ever
in doubt that these terrorists do not mean well for
anyone, of whatever religion or dispensation.
Their persistent choice of the weakest and most
vulnerable in society, for gruesome attack,
provides an insight into their abnormal mind-set.
17. I urge every Nigerian to put aside political,
sectional or other parochial considerations, and
support whole-heartedly the efforts of the
government and the military, in checking this evil.
18. We are grateful to the international
community, and especially our neighbours who
are working closely with us in confronting this
challenge, for their increased partnership and
solidarity. Our steady progress in weakening the
insurgency has certainly justified our
cooperation.
19. Fellow Nigerians, in my independence
anniversary address last year, I informed you that
we had taken cognizance of the suggestion over
the years by well-meaning Nigerians on the need
to focus attention on rebuilding and strengthening
the ligaments of our union. It was in that regard
that we announced the convening of a National
Dialogue on the future of our beloved country.
20. We have successfully delivered on that
promise as we established the 2014 National
Conference headed by Justice Legbo Kutigi. After
months of deliberations, which did not come
without its challenges, the conference concluded
its assignment and has handed its Report to me.
21. I have made a firm commitment that we would
act on the recommendations of the conference.
This, I have started by setting up the Ministerial
Committee headed by the Honourable Attorney
General of the Federation to work out the
modalities for implementing the Report. Every
promise I make, God willing, I will see to its
fulfilment. I assure you, we shall implement the
report.
22. One major lesson which the 2014 National
Conference has taught us as a country is that, a
multi-ethnic country like ours, must learn to
embrace painstaking dialogue until consensus is
established.
23. To me, the National Conference is the greatest
centenary gift to our country that we must cherish
and sustain.
24. Fellow Nigerians, our 54 year-journey as a
nation has not been easy. There have been tough
periods, but the Nigerian spirit and the unflagging
resilience of our people have seen us through. We
will continue to march forward to greater heights.
25. We have been able to sustain a big, strong and
influential country with a robust economy. We are
currently in our sixteenth year of uninterrupted
democratic rule, daily improving on the
consolidation of our democratic process.
26. Our Administration has made a commitment
to ensure that we build and sustain a democratic
infrastructure anchored on free and fair elections.
International and local observers have attested to
the positive evolution of electoral credibility and
we cannot afford to relent.
27. We will continue to ensure that the will of the
electorate prevails so that political leaders would
be reminded at all times that there is a day of
reckoning when they have to go back to the
people at the polls. Election days must not be
days of violence and death. We must remain
vigilant to ensure that our electoral process is
characterised by peace, security and
transparency.
28. I enjoin the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC), all security agencies,
politicians and the electorate to work
conscientiously and peacefully, together, to
consolidate on the gains of the recent
elections.Free and fair elections have come to
stay; nothing else will be acceptable to our
people.
29. My dear countrymen and women, occasions
such as this present an opportunity to thank God
for our country and to report to you, on our
journey so far.
30. Our power sector reform is on course with the
ultimate objective of generating enough electricity
to power our homes, industries and businesses.
We are making giant strides in the Agricultural
Sector which we are re-positioning to diversify our
economy. We will continue to upgrade our
infrastructure to make life easier for all and create
an enabling environment for enterprise to
flourish.
31. Over the last four years, the implementation of
the Nigerian Content Act in the Oil and Gas Sector
has ensured major increase in the participation of
indigenous Oil and Gas companies in the industry.
Several critical infrastructure projects have been
commissioned and commenced. The level of
indigenous asset ownership has greatly increased
and utilisation of Nigerian-owned and built assets
such as marine vessels and rigs is being
progressively enforced.
32. There has been maximised local value addition
by encouraging the manufacture of equipment
components and parts within the country. There
has also been massive growth in indigenous
participation in the provision of goods and
services to the upstream sector from 10% to 60%
within the last four years.
33. Today, following the rebasing of our economy,
every international monitoring and ratings agency
now acknowledges Nigeria as the largest economy
in Africa, with a Gross Domestic Product of five
hundred and ten billion dollars ($510 billion)
which also places us as the 26th largest economy
in the world. This is progress.
34. Earlier in the year, we launched the Nigeria
Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP) and the National
Enterprise Development Programme (NEDEP) with
the stated objective of fast tracking inclusive
growth, job creation, enterprise development and
industrialisation.
35. The success of these policies is already evident
in the increased value addition in the agricultural
and manufacturing sectors.
36. In line with our objective of encouraging the
production of made-in-Nigeria vehicles and
making Nigeria a regional hub for the automobile
industry, a number of foreign auto manufacturers
have established plants in Nigeria, complementing
the laudable efforts of our local vehicle
manufacturers who have also demonstrated great
innovation and competitiveness.
37. We have also launched a special support
programme for Micro, Small and Medium
Enterprises with an initial intervention fund of two
hundred and twenty billion naira (N220 b). This is
in addition to the Presidential Job Creation
Boardwhich I inaugurated recently with the
charge to create three million jobs annually.
38. In demonstration of our Administration’s
commitment to addressing Nigeria’s housing
deficit, we have commenced the new mortgage re-
finance programme with the establishment of
theNigerian Mortgage Re-finance Company. It is
expected that, in addition to creating additional
housing units across the country, this initiative
also represents a huge job creation opportunity.
39. We have recorded notable success in the
social sector. Nigeria has been globally
acknowledged for reducing extreme hunger by
more than half, with the Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) formally presenting the
country with an award for achieving the
Millennium Development Goal on Hunger three
years ahead of the 2015 target date set for the
Millennium Development Goals.
40. This progress is as a result of the deliberate
policy of government to increase capacity in our
agricultural sector of which the first step was to
address and eliminate the graft in our fertilizer
procurement system and ensure that the product
gets directly to the farmer. We are expanding our
irrigation infrastructure to ensure that our
farmers have sufficient water supply for dry
season farming.
41. A benefit of these combined actions is that our
national food import bill has declined from 1.1
trillion naira (6.9 billion dollars) in 2009 to 684.7
billion naira (4.35 billion dollars) by December
2013, and continues to decline.
42. Modern hybrid schools are being provided for
less privileged children across the country,
resulting in significant increase in the national
school enrolment figure.
43. In order to further enhance access to
education at the tertiary level, fourteen new
Federal Universities have been established; and,
to encourage persons of exceptional abilities, our
Administration has also introduced a Presidential
Scholarship Scheme based strictly on excellence
and merit.
44. On infrastructure, we are building roads,
bridges, and new rail lines to make it easier to
traverse Nigeria and increase the integration of
our people and our ability to do business with
each other. In this regard, we have commenced
the process of building the Second Niger Bridge.
The Loko-Oweto Bridge over River Benue in
Nasarawa and Benue States, will significantly
reduce travel time by road between Northern and
Southern Nigeria. The on-going dredging of the
River Niger up to Baro in Niger State is opening up
large parts of the Nigerian hinterland to maritime
activity.
45. The Zungeru and Mambilla Hydro-electric
power projects are on course, and the
Kashimbilla dam which we started a few years
ago, is nearing completion. The successful
privatisation of our power sector will in the long
run enhance industrial growth. Policies such as
this and others have raised Nigeria to the enviable
status of being the number one recipient of
Foreign Direct Investment in Africa in the past
year.
46. The result of this infrastructure drive is that
two and a half million jobs have been created
over the past two years. This is a record, which we
are committed to improve upon to continue to
provide jobs for our youth.
47. An unprecedented number of Airports across
the country, are not only being reconstructed at
the same time, but being re-equipped and
reassessed with emphasis on maintaining global
standards.
48. Fellow Nigerians, the goals we set to achieve
for our country involve expanding the frontiers of
economic freedom. Let us therefore unite with
one heart and one mind. All our people must have
access to the good things of life. All our people
must be empowered to pursue the gift of life with
happiness. This is our country; we must build it
for our common posterity.
49. As we move into an election year, desperate
moves to overheat the polity are becoming a
regular occurrence. Our political leaders in
particular must know that the contest for power
should not translate to the destruction of the
polity.
50. The contest for the leadership of our country
must yield good governance, and not
ungovernable spaces. The love of country should
rank higher than our individual ambitions.
51. We must remain committed to a united and
indivisible Nigeria within democratic parameters.
The protection of individual rights, liberty,
equality before the law, freedom of thought, and a
progressive pursuit of a sound economy must be
our goal.
52. I cannot end this address without commenting
on the deadly Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) which
was sadly brought into our country recently. My
directives to the Federal Ministry of Health saw
the ministry leading the charge in curtailing the
spread of this deadly scourge and managing its
impact. This is how it should be:swift, effective
and comprehensive action in defence of
citizens.
53. It must be pointed out that the Ebola battle is
still raging elsewhere in our sub-region. I
therefore enjoin all our citizens to continue to
adhere strictly to all the guidelines that have been
given by our health officials to keep Ebola out of
our country.
54. I appreciate and welcome the spirit of
collaboration, unity and partnership with which
we confronted the threat of the Ebola Virus
Disease. I thank all Nigerians for working together
to prevent what could have become a major
epidemic. I particularly thank the medical
personnel, some of whom made the ultimate
sacrifice.
55. This is the spirit which we must demonstrate
at all times as we face up to our challenges as a
nation: one people, united by a common resolve,
in the pursuit of one common national interest.
56. As we look forward to another year in our
national life, I am more than confident that our
tomorrow will be better than our yesterday and
today. Nigeria has got the human and material
resources to excel and we shall lead the way in
that journey to our manifest destiny.
57. Fellow countrymen, brothers and sisters, in all
our plans, and in all our words and our actions,
we must stand together in love and unity, as one
people under God.
58. We are one people from the womb of one
Nigeria. We are brothers and sisters. We are one
family. We are Nigerians.
59. God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
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And you expect me to read this long story.