Receiving the report, which is in 22 volumes and totalling 10,335 pages from the Conference Chairman, Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi, a happy President Jonathan said critics who thought the exercise would disintegrate the country have been shamed with the achievements of the delegates.
According to him, all those who had predicted the disintegration of this country at the end of the nation’s first centenary would wish they chose another country against the backdrop that the possibilities of the new vision for Nigeria were being actualised.
He noted that the time has come for all Nigerians to put behind them all the drawbacks that inhibited the country from realising her manifest destiny and full potentials, saying: “We must steadily arrive at the juncture where strife, conflicts and mistrusts would become distant echoes of our past. We must make every inch of our country a space for joyous habitation. Our country must enter a new season of harmony, prosperity and happiness with justice abiding in every hamlet, community and our country. It is the dawn of a new day in Nigeria and the new nation is at the door accompanied by its great men and women, young and old.”
It won’t be a wasted effort
President Jonathan promised that efforts of the 492 delegates will not be a waste as government would ensure that the recommendations were implemented in the interest of the country.
He hailed the delegates for their tireless efforts and coming up with recommendations that will help chart a path of peaceful coexistence, sustainable development, justice and progress as the country marches into the second centenary, and stressed that as delegates, they had done their best, that the onus was now on the executive and elected lawmakers to compliment their job.
He averred that the ability of the delegates to disagree to agree is a clear indication that Nigeria has remained our collective good and we are capable of solving our problems through dialogue.
His words: “The success of this conference has proved the cynics wrong in many respects. Those who dismissed the entire conference ab initio as a “diversion” have been proved wrong as what you achieved has contrary to their forecast diverted our country only from the wrong road to the right direction.
“As I receive the report of your painstaking deliberations, let me assure that your work is not going be a waste of time and resources. We shall do all we can to ensure the implementation of your recommendations which have come out of consensus and not by divisions.
“The result of the conference has shown that we are not enemies, neither are we antagonists, no matter our religion, region, state, and tongue. This conference has reinforced what I have always believed- that Nigeria is here for our collective good.
“The discourse reflected our latest challenges. We shall send the relevant aspects of your recommendations to the Council of State and the National Assembly for incorporation into the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. On our part, we shall act on those aspects required of us in the Executive.
“Let me reaffirm this: Nobody has a monopoly of knowledge. We who are in government need to feed from the thoughts of those who elected us into power. You have done your patriotic duty; we the elected, must now do ours.”
Why I didn’t intervene
President Jonathan, who gave an insight into why he never intervened in their activities of the confab said that he took that decision on the premise that the delegates were capable of coming up with how to move the country forward, adding: “One of the many reasons for our non-interference is this: We have at the conference, 492 delegates and six conference officials who in their individual rights are qualified to lead our great country and if they were unable to agree on how to take decisions, we would be in real trouble! Acknowledging the quality and patriotic content of the delegates, I was confident the right thing will be done.” He said
According to him, all those who had predicted the disintegration of this country at the end of the nation’s first centenary would wish they chose another country against the backdrop that the possibilities of the new vision for Nigeria were being actualised.
He noted that the time has come for all Nigerians to put behind them all the drawbacks that inhibited the country from realising her manifest destiny and full potentials, saying: “We must steadily arrive at the juncture where strife, conflicts and mistrusts would become distant echoes of our past. We must make every inch of our country a space for joyous habitation. Our country must enter a new season of harmony, prosperity and happiness with justice abiding in every hamlet, community and our country. It is the dawn of a new day in Nigeria and the new nation is at the door accompanied by its great men and women, young and old.”
It won’t be a wasted effort
President Jonathan promised that efforts of the 492 delegates will not be a waste as government would ensure that the recommendations were implemented in the interest of the country.
He hailed the delegates for their tireless efforts and coming up with recommendations that will help chart a path of peaceful coexistence, sustainable development, justice and progress as the country marches into the second centenary, and stressed that as delegates, they had done their best, that the onus was now on the executive and elected lawmakers to compliment their job.
He averred that the ability of the delegates to disagree to agree is a clear indication that Nigeria has remained our collective good and we are capable of solving our problems through dialogue.
His words: “The success of this conference has proved the cynics wrong in many respects. Those who dismissed the entire conference ab initio as a “diversion” have been proved wrong as what you achieved has contrary to their forecast diverted our country only from the wrong road to the right direction.
“As I receive the report of your painstaking deliberations, let me assure that your work is not going be a waste of time and resources. We shall do all we can to ensure the implementation of your recommendations which have come out of consensus and not by divisions.
“The result of the conference has shown that we are not enemies, neither are we antagonists, no matter our religion, region, state, and tongue. This conference has reinforced what I have always believed- that Nigeria is here for our collective good.
“The discourse reflected our latest challenges. We shall send the relevant aspects of your recommendations to the Council of State and the National Assembly for incorporation into the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. On our part, we shall act on those aspects required of us in the Executive.
“Let me reaffirm this: Nobody has a monopoly of knowledge. We who are in government need to feed from the thoughts of those who elected us into power. You have done your patriotic duty; we the elected, must now do ours.”
Why I didn’t intervene
President Jonathan, who gave an insight into why he never intervened in their activities of the confab said that he took that decision on the premise that the delegates were capable of coming up with how to move the country forward, adding: “One of the many reasons for our non-interference is this: We have at the conference, 492 delegates and six conference officials who in their individual rights are qualified to lead our great country and if they were unable to agree on how to take decisions, we would be in real trouble! Acknowledging the quality and patriotic content of the delegates, I was confident the right thing will be done.” He said
No comments:
Post a Comment