PRESIDENT
Muhammadu Buhari Sunday said that the country should not spend her resources
and energy debating disintegration.
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 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 some people
say four blacks, some say five, 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.
News
Source: - Vanguard | September 3, 2017.
Photo Source: - Premium Times | August 21, 2016.
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