I’m committed to the ideals of our founding fathers – Jonathan

Address to the Nation by President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR, on the occasion of Nigeria’s 51st Independence Anniversary

Fellow Compatriots,

1. On this day 51 years ago, the British Union Jack was lowered and replaced by our national Green-White-Green flag, heralding the independence of our nation. The 1st of October remains a special day for us, for Africa, and indeed the world.

2. As we celebrate today, we remember with pride, the nationalism and patriotism that inspired our founding fathers and the Nigerian people. They set aside their differences, to secure the unity and independence of our great country.
3. That is the Nigerian spirit! For the Nigerian spirit cannot be broken. We are a resilient nation, determined to chart a course, through the turbulent waters of nation building. The Nigerian spirit is vibrant today in the world.

4. Our citizens at home and abroad, are making their mark in all fields of human endeavour. These hard-working and committed Nigerians, remain a source of pride to us and a beacon of what is achievable, if we remain focused and determined.

5. I know that a great number of you are joining hands with me and the Administration, in the great task ahead.

6. I value all Nigerians. I see our youth who are looking for jobs and yet remain hopeful. I see the farmer, and fisherman, toiling everyday to earn a living. I see the teacher, working hard, to train our future generations, with much sacrifice. I see the market women whose entrepreneurial spirit helps to generate income for their children and families. I see our sportsmen and women training hard to bring glory to our nation. I see our resilience and commitment, as a nation, to defend our democracy and secure our future.

7. I see every single profession and vocation, making positive contributions to national progress. I value you all!

8. Together, we shall work for a Nigeria in which democracy and the rule of law are sacrosanct.

A country where corruption and its attendant vices, are banished. A country where human life is sacred and respected, and where the rights of the individual are protected.

9. Nigeria is a young entity in the comity of nations and yet in her 51 years, she has made significant strides in making her presence felt all over the world. Our diplomatic and peacekeeping efforts, in various parts of the continent, have helped to end conflict and avert crises. In sustaining global security, our intervention has been crucial to peace, progress and democracy for the citizens of the affected countries.

10. The journey to nationhood always has its own challenges. Nigeria has had her own share. Our growing pains as a nation have included the Civil War, the June 12 election crisis and restlessness in the Niger Delta. But Nigeria has always overcome each of these challenges. We overcame before. We will overcome yet again.

11. Today, as a nation, there is much for us to celebrate. We celebrate our diversity. We celebrate our entrepreneurial spirit.

12. We celebrate our resilience and ability to turn adversity into hope. We celebrate our culture. For the labours of our heroes past, shall never be in vain.

13. As your President, let me reassure all Nigerians that I remain resolutely committed to the ideals and dreams of our founding fathers. Let me also reassure Nigerians that I will strongly defend the peace and stability of our nation.

14. My administration will spare no effort in fighting crime, building peace, and securing our homeland against internal threats and infiltration by violent groups, from outside our borders.

15. We condemn all acts of violence and declare that such acts of mindless savagery shall not be allowed to define our country. We will not be deterred. Our resolve is strong.

16. I have put in place a new and reinvigorated national security strategy to combat the threat to our safety. Yet, no matter what I do as your President and no matter what we do as your elected leaders, at all levels, the peace and security of our nation rest also on our collective efforts as citizens, in our various communities.

17. All leaders and citizens, in every community, must therefore make peace the number one priority of their daily routine. This is because, without peace, no community can realise its objectives or achieve a happy and productive life for its members.

18. The current incidents of violence and terror, in parts of the country, will surely be overcome. We will secure the safety of our citizens for only when we do this, will we be able to build the needed peace and tranquility in all parts of the federation.

19. Securing our peace and stability will ensure economic growth and prosperity for all.

20. Since I assumed office as the President of our great country, I have continued to focus my attention on the economy. I have taken several measures to address structural weaknesses which stand between us and economic growth and prosperity for all.

21. We are growing our economy, to generate employment opportunities for our teeming youths and enhanced prosperity for every citizen. This remains the main focus of my administration.

22. In a few days time, I shall launch an innovative competition for our young entrepreneurs to come up with ways to expand their businesses, create more jobs, and sharpen their business skills.

23. Now, it is very clear that without fundamental reforms in the key sectors of our economy, we will not be able to fully unlock our potential as a nation. We must manage our resources more prudently and efficiently. We must provide stable electricity to our citizens to help drive economic activity.

24. I call on our political leaders to put aside partisan politics, for united action towards the advancement of our nation. We must build together.

25. Because of the measures we have taken on the economy, our GDP is today one of the fastest growing in Africa. We are currently growing the economy at 7.8%. We expect to sustain an 8% growth rate and a better GDP in the medium term, on our journey towards realizing our Vision 20:2020 goal.

We shall strive to make this growth, job creating and inclusive.

26. Growth in agriculture and other non-oil sectors are crucial, to help diversify the economy and to generate much needed jobs. Agriculture remains one of the highest priorities in my government’s Agenda for National Transformation. We have set out clear, agricultural, transformation action plans and policy measures, to achieve self-sufficiency in the production of rice, cassava, maize, sorghum and other staple foods.

27. Self-sufficiency in rice alone will save us the 356 Billion Naira that we currently spend annually importing rice. We will revamp the way we distribute fertilizers, taking government out of distribution of fertilizers.



28. We plan to reach 20 million farmers with private-sector distributed fertilizers over the next four years. We will improve the investment environment and incentives for the private sector across the agricultural value chains. Our agricultural transformation plan will generate 3.5 million jobs and an additional 20 million metric tons of food.

29. But we must all show pride in our farmers. We should eat what we produce. The increasing popularity of local products, like ‘Ofada Rice,’ ‘Badegi rice,’ and ‘Abakaliki Rice,’ attest to the fact, that the populace will readily embrace locally grown produce.

30. We must also take pride in our scientists. This week, Nigeria released eight new high yielding cocoa varieties. This will help to transform cocoa production, across the 14 cocoa producing states in the nation.

31. We have put in place implementable programmes to transform our Nation from an importer of petroleum products, to the regional hub for exportation of value-added petroleum and petrochemical products. We are revamping existing refineries and building three new ones.

32. We are effectively supporting the private-sector led construction of world scale petrochemical and fertiliser plants. This will for the first time in our history, result in effective monetization of our abundant natural gas resources while at the same time, creating over a million jobs.

33. Our potential is huge.

We have the requisite market volume.

We have a youthful, energetic, and hardworking population.

The structural and managerial bottlenecks, that have obstructed our economic growth, are being addressed, to unleash the energy and potentials of this nation.

To achieve this, I am determined to ensure that Nigerians have reliable electricity. Our economy will grow faster, and our hard working small businesses will thrive, when we finally fix the power challenges we face. We are fast tracking power reforms, to improve the generation and distribution of electricity.

34. Already, we are beginning to do things differently. I believe that integrity, honour, patriotism, selfless service and fear of God, must be the hallmarks of leadership at all levels.

35. A nation is sustained by its institutions and systems. I have taken strong measures to improve on governance. It is in this regard, that I signed into law, the Freedom of Information Act. I will further strengthen all institutions, to ensure greater transparency, probity, and accountability at all levels.

36. Last year, I promised to restore confidence in our electoral system and pledged to deliver free and fair elections. To achieve that, we initiated some electoral reforms and strengthened INEC and other related agencies.

37. As a result, our April 2011 General Elections were adjudged by Nigerians and the international community as the most transparent and credible elections ever conducted in our country. Indeed, post-election petitions reduced by over 50%.

38. Let me assure all Nigerians of my resolve to lead our nation into a safer, more peaceful, and prosperous future for our children.

39. For the time has come to rise above ethnic and religious divisions;

The time has come, to unite against violence in all its ramifications;

The time has come to secure our peace and unite against suffering and deprivation;

40. I see a new Nigeria rising. A Nigeria, that is economically strong. A Nigeria that takes its rightful place of leadership in the world. A Nigeria that uses its diversity to reinforce its strength. A Nigeria we all can be proud of.

41. This is the Nigeria we need and this is the Nigeria we all must build.

42. As we celebrate today, let us resolve to build the Nigeria of our future.

43. I thank you.

God bless you all.

And God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.



http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201110018193498

so what?
Mtceeeeeeeeeeeew

slimyem:

so what?
Mtceeeeeeeeeeeew

He is the president so he gave an independence day speech which he is mandated to do.

Jalal:

*YAWN* stretches and goes back 2 sleep.

I understand that gesture, but hey we all need to be positive and look at the good in his speech.

critics of capua, shall we begin?

We are growing our economy, to generate employment opportunities for our teeming youths and enhanced prosperity for every citizen. This remains the main focus of my administration.
In a few days time, I shall launch an innovative competition for our young entrepreneurs to come up with ways to expand their businesses, create more jobs, and sharpen their business skills (President Jonathan).


Nice ineciative sir, i sincerly hope it will be fair and open to all Nigerians and not given to a privilaged few.  That aside bring it on,

slimyem:

so what?
Mtceeeeeeeeeeeew

Dumb

Oga Jona, enough of all this long speech! Action! Action!! Action!!! is what we need.

Did anyone notice that Mr president didn't mention fight against corruption in his speech. This is an evidence that Mr President is not ready to fight corruption in Nigeria.

labiola:

Did anyone notice that Mr president didn't mention fight against corruption in his speech. This is an evidence that Mr President is not ready to fight corruption in Nigeria.

LOL. This one didnt have he patient to read.

He also didnt talk about eating pounded yam for dinner- does it not mean he doesnt like Naija food?

LOL

werepeLeri:

LOL. This one didnt have he patient to read.

lol. i am guilty of that offense also. Its way too long!

Great speech. Full of hope.

To be a president is the most difficult job on earth.

This does not av a clue abt the main problem we are having, u can increase ur GDP to 100%, we il still be having all this problem, because it comes down to corruption. Whether we av 100million or 100billion to spend on anything e.g. Job creation or health, the corrupt people in charge il not let anytin com out of it. ow many billions was spent on power during obj regime, what comes out of it,
Until we tackle corruption, there is no way forward.
Nice speech by the way, mr president, if only u meditate on it do as u say, sinz am sure u didn't write it, so meditate on it & do all u promise to do. because until this morning u re a failing president, not yet failed, there is still time.
God bless Nigeria.

HE SAID NOTHING ABOUT 1wik ASUU STRIKE HE IS MAD GOD GO PUNISH AM,is just a wik and am already tired of HOME

Oga jona, go and stop boko haram and mend, forget about long speach. Mkpssheeeeeeeeeeeeew

Great speech, may our leaders have d courage & fear of God to fulfill all ( or most) of their promises, amen.

Happy 51st independence to all Nigerians!

Happy 51st independence day to you all, Let's not forget to thank God for keeping us till now, E no easy eh

We need a PLAN not a speech.

We need a PLAN not a speech.

God bless Nigeria

efisher:

Great speech. Full of hope.

Yes, the same hope that we have been having for 51 years. If great speeches could develop a country, Nigeria would by now be the greatest country on earth. You don't build a country with great speeches. You do it with great deeds.

Happy Independence Naija!!!

just give us electricity for 12 hours a day. Is that 2 much 2 ask?

As we celebrate our independence day may good thing be added to our great Country In Jesus Name Amen.

How will I hear the speech when I don't even have light! If not for the fact that am browsing Nairaland with my BB I wouldn't even know he gave a speech not to talk about the contents of the so called speech!
Until he revamps the light situation he is just wasting his time! We are celebrating 51 years of no light!
In short am going to bed cos my BB battery is going down and of course no light to charge it.

Because of the measures we have taken on the economy, our GDP is today one of the fastest growing in Africa. We are currently growing the economy at 7.8%. We expect to sustain an 8% growth rate and a better GDP in the medium term, on our journey towards realizing our Vision 20:2020 goal.

Deliberate misinformation from Uncle Joe, he forgot to tell us that GDP growth of 7.8% for Nigeria is  among the worst in the last decade. OBJ was doing well above 8% GDP growth in his second term in office. Nigeria since 1999 has one of the highest GDP growth in the world, why is he Joe limiting his comparison to Africa now?

Our zoologist president can obviously do better than this!

john6006:

To be a president is the most difficult job on earth.

Abi o! cos nothing u wil do dat wil satisfy the people. I think we shld go back to militry regim

john6006:

To be a president is the most difficult job on earth.

Not in Nigeria where you loot money, do nothing and people still hail you as a great leader.

Nigerians need to reflect on where we went wrong in our history:

check out my thread on Our history through the eyes of Western News media:

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-693700.32.html

The fellow who said we need plan not speech is partly right.nonetheless how long shall we continue formulating plans?what we need is action in carrying out whatever plans are formulated