Nigeria Independence Day Speech

Independence Anniversary Speech By His Excellency Alhaji Abdullahi Adamu, Sarkin Yakin Keffi, Executive Governor of Nasarawa State, Lafia, October 1, 2002

Today is a double celebration for us in Nasarawa State. We celebrate our country's 42nd anniversary as an independent nation and the sixth birthday of our own dear state. On October 1, 1960 the fathers of our independence struggle achieved their singular objective of freeing our country from British colonial rule. The great bells of freedom peeled throughout the land. Its sound was a clarion call to all Nigerians to rise up as one and take on the burden and the urgent task of moulding the young, independent country into the nation of our collective dreams in which the difference in tribes and tongues would be an asset, not a liability. Some of the nationalists, who gave all they had in pursuit of what they wanted for Nigeria, did not live to witness that glorious day. Their struggle was not and can never be in vain. We join our compatriots in fondly remembering them on this special day in the history of our nation. We salute their courage and their sacrifice.

It is not a coincidence that our state shares the same birthday with our country. Our state and our nation have a lot in common. As home to virtually all the tribes in the country, we are a mini-Nigeria, grappling with the challenges of a young but vibrant state. And just as our nationalists struggled for our country's independence, so did we all struggle for a state of our own in which we shall be the captains of our own ship and the masters of our own destiny. Some of us who fought for the creation of Nasarawa State did not live to witness the handing over of the trophy we won for ourselves. We remember all those, dead or living, who bore the cross that we may have what we have. They fought the good fight and they won the race. We say a big thank you to them.

The terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre in New York and the Pentagon in the United States of America on September 11 last year, cast a pall of gloom on the world and our independence anniversary that year. In sympathy with the American government and its people and other nations over that great tragedy, the federal government ordered a low-key celebration of our 41st independence anniversary throughout the country. We, in Nasarawa State, identified ourselves with the decision of the federal government. We too were greatly touched by the death of over 3,000 people in the attack. Consequently, we did not mark the fifth anniversary of the creation of our state as we had planned. It was part of the sacrifice we had to make as a token of our sympathy with the bereaved and the devastated.

The sixth anniversary we mark today may not be a milestone but it is no less important to us as a people. We are right to celebrate it as we wish with drums and dancing. But the celebration of a day like this is less important than the meaning of the occasion itself. Anniversaries such as this are informed pauses in the journey towards the Promised Land. As we stand on the milestone of the anniversary, we look back to the milestones behind us and look forward to those ahead of us. We take stock. We assess our journey. We plan the next stage of the race. We renew our commitment and our pledge. We reinvigorate our spirit and our courage to take on the task and the challenges ahead.

Each one of us must spare a moment for this introspection and assess our individual contributions to peace and unity of our state in terms of its social, political and economic development and the upliftment of our people from poverty, ignorance and disease. If, in our own judgement, we have failed to put our shoulder to the plough, let us make a solemn promise to ourselves today to make positive and selfless contributions to the comprehensive development of our state. If we have made contributions in the desired direction, however modest, let us renew our pledge to ourselves that we will do more from today to help build the state of our collective dreams. Let our sweat water trees of peace and unity in our state. Our labour must turn our rural state into a modern state. And may our faith in God invigorate our selflessness in the service of our people.

The anniversary of our country and our state is being marked against the background of the impending electioneering campaigns as we move towards the end of the first four-year term. These will be trying times not only for the people of Nasarawa State but also for all Nigerians. As we progress on the last lap of the first four-year term, we cast our mind back to that momentous occasion in the political history of our country when the Nigerian armed forces handed over power to democratically-elected governments at federal and state levels throughout the country on May 29, 1999. We began a new democratic journey at all levels of government. The eyes of the world were and are still on us to see what we make of our democracy and its beguiling promises. We cannot afford to disappoint their expectations.

As the first democratically elected government in Nasarawa State, we assumed duty mindful of the great expectations of our people to meet their yearnings, given the democratic latitude for self-actualisation. We had no illusions about the enormity of the problems and the challenges facing the young state and our young administration. But of one thing we were sure. We had the determination to make a positive difference in the lives of our people with the support of our people despite a promising beginning hobbled by an empty treasury and a debt burden. We did not allow this to scare us because as the saying goes, where there is will, there will always be a way.

Our first task on assumption of office was to articulate our vision and our goals. We then mapped out the strategies for achieving them within the shortest possible time. It is worth recalling, on this occasion, the six fundamental principles enunciated in our inaugural broadcast to the people on which we anchored our development strategy. These are:

• • 1. the evolution of a clear, socio-cultural philosophy, coherent principles and ethics for the achievements of stability, good government, transparency and accountability and the efficient management of resources;

    2. rapid development of basic infrastructures in the urban and rural areas;

    3. enthronement of equity, justice and fair play in the conduct of government business;

    4. the refocusing of the collective energy of the people for self-actualisation in the context of self-help and self-sustenance;

    5. rapid educational, industrial, agricultural and economic development of the state and

    6. the empowerment of all segments of the society as a catalyst for poverty alleviation.

Our emphasis remains the comprehensive development of the state. Lopsided development has been the bane of developing nations. We do not want our state to be a victim of this festering sore in developing societies. Meaningful development must tie all the sectors of human endeavour together. In the past three years and five months, we have taken every step to implement this policy of even and comprehensive development. In other words, our educational policy takes cognisance of our social, economic and industrial development policies. This innovative approach to our development is the concrete platform on which we have launched Nasarawa State into the 21st century.

We promised on assumption of duty to make education the pivot of our development strategy. This informed government decision to set up the state university, the state polytechnic, a school of nursing and mid-wifery, the rehabilitation of primary and secondary schools and the establishment of new ones as well as the setting up of special science secondary schools. Female education has equally been given the needed attention. Manpower is crucial to the development of every society, hence we have spared no expenses, within our limited resources, to give education the pride of place it richly deserves.

A little over three years ago, we met a rural state in every sense of the phrase. Intra-state commerce was impaired by lack of good, all season roads. Our state is the bread basket of the nation but we met peasant farmers who fed and enriched others but remained poor themselves. Our health facilities were woefully inadequate and where they existed, they were so thoroughly dilapidated that they did not even qualify as mere consulting clinics. The majority of our people in urban, semi-urban and rural areas had no access to potable water and remained, as they had been for years, hapless and pitiable victims of water-borne diseases. Our rural areas were denied electricity. This was a depressing picture but a challenge waiting to be tackled. We tackled it in every ramification. Today, the picture of our state has dramatically and pleasantly changed. Every part of the state feels the impact of our administration. The details of our development activities up to February this year have been compiled and published in a booklet by the office of the executive governor and are being distributed to all local government offices and among traditional rulers and opinion leaders throughout the state.

Our political opponents have accused us of having done nothing for the state. This booklet is not intended to respond to their lies and mischief. It is issued strictly in line with our policy of accountability. But it has put these idle detractors to shame. Lies, however coated, cannot contend with available, verifiable and irrefutable facts. Still in their desperation to show that we have nothing on the ground, despite the abundant evidence to the contrary, these men and their misguided supporters are busy sabotaging and destroying water, rural electrification and other projects undertaken by this administration. They have vandalized solar panels in a number of rural water supply projects, particularly in Gora, Agyaragu, Duduguru and Wamba. Anyone travelling between Keffi and Abuja will see the extent of their evil hands. They have removed electricity transmission lines for several kilometres. In some cases, they have pulled down and broken to pieces electric poles.

What we have laboured to build for our people with our lean resources are now being destroyed and sabotaged by our own misguided sons. Nothing in the world, no degree of political desperation, can excuse this evil. We are all losers because government projects destroyed is the tax payers' money down the drain. We feel truly sad and disappointed by the mindless actions of these men. Yet these are the men who want to rule this state because they claim to love our people more than others. If sabotage is the evidence of their love for our people, then we need no enemies. We wish to assure the people that government is taking necessary steps to stop their sabotage. We are all must stand up to them and stop them from denying us our right to potable water, electricity and the modern facilities.

We have not overcome all our problems but we have not failed to tackle them. Our ambition to do more is hobbled by our lean financial resources. The new minimum wage and the upward review of pension for retired civil servants ordered by the federal government have compounded our financial problems. We spend more on wages and salaries to the obvious detriment of capital vote. When we presented our second annual budget to that august body, the state house of assembly, we promised to make every Naira give a good account of itself in the state. We have kept that solemn pledge. We have been creative and pragmatic in the management of the little that comes to us from the federation account in order to maximize its impact.

The modest achievements we have made would not have been possible without the active support and the full participation in the programmes of the state government by the generality of our people. We say a big and grateful thank you to you all. You must continue to identify with and support the government because you are the government.

The speaker and our honourable members of the state house of assembly deserve a special tribute on this occasion. They have consistently exhibited maturity in the conduct of their affairs. As the second and vital arm of the government, the legislators have been and remain our worthy partners in the progress and development of our state. Thanks to their maturity and demonstrable sense of public service and responsibility, our state has been spared the needless crisis and trauma that have afflicted some state governments. We thank them.

The members of the state executive council work as a team. They have not allowed the exigencies of religion or ethnicity to becloud their sense of fairness and their commitment to the progress of the state. We are proud of them. They richly deserve their appellation, the dream team. We thank them.

Civil servants are the backbone of every modern administration. Indeed, behind every successful government, there is a dedicated civil service. Every government must rely on the advice and support of civil servants in the execution of its programmes. Our civil servants have done us proud. When we came in, they were demoralised by the way previous administrations had treated them. We immediately accorded them their rightful place. We proceeded to deal with those issues such as lack of promotion and training which had affected their morale. They have reciprocated with their unalloyed support for the administration. We thank them from the bottom of our heart.

Our labour unions, students and non-governmental organisations in the state have been supportive of all developments efforts. The labour leaders have ensured harmony between the government and their members. We thank all of them for being wonderful partners in the progress of our dear state.

Our royal fathers deserve a special expression of our gratitude. We continue to benefit from their advice informed by their revered position as the custodians of our culture. We say a big thank you to their royal highness.

Our traditional institution is the glue that holds the past and the future together. This institution cannot but be given its rightful place in the scheme of things. We have taken steps towards that end with the reclassification and promotion of existing traditional stools to enhance the status of our royal fathers. We have concluded plans to create new chiefdoms in answer to the yearnings of the various ethnic groups who rightly feel that their culture and tradition would be best protected and advanced under their own traditional flags. Our royal fathers have a special responsibility to promote unity, peace and harmony among our people. They cannot afford to discharge this duty lightly.

In the three years and five months of our stewardship in this state, we have tried to do everything within our power and financial resources to make a positive difference in the lives of our people. All our actions and decisions have been taken with honest intentions and informed by our ambition to meet the yearnings of our people in various aspects of human endeavour. We have not deliberately set out in any way to favour any one section of the state at the expense of another. We have not deliberately done anything to marginalise any groups, be they ethnic or religious. But we recognise and fully appreciate the fact that when decisions are taken in the interest of the majority, some entrenched minority interest may be affected. If we have stepped on some toes in this way, we wish to assure the owners of such toes that this was nothing personal and should not be taken as such. Our actions and decisions were not ill-motivated. They were noble in intent and honest in execution.

It is possible to strive to please all of the people all of the time. We have tried to do that. But it is not possible to please all of the people all of the time. We admit that this has been the case with us. From the bottom of our heart, therefore, we tender our unreserved apology to all those who, rightly or wrongly, feel that we have wronged them in any way by our official decisions and actions. We ask for their forgiveness and understanding. To err is human, to forgive is divine.

My dear people of Nasarawa State, we have come a long way since the return to civil rule. We have been through the thick and the thin together. The ethnic crisis in the southern senatorial district of the state was most regrettable. The mindless death and destruction visited on many communities temporarily set our state back in its forward march. But we have now put that unfortunate incident behind us. Most, if not all displaced persons from the crisis have since returned home. We welcome them all back. All swords must now be sheathed for good. We must give peace a chance and let bygones be bygones. All of us must do what we can to assist the returnees pick up the pieces of their lives. We must uphold our resolve to never again employ violence in the resolution of ethnic or communal differences. Dialogue remains the superior way of resolving our common problems. Let us never fear to employ dialogue.

We note, with sadness, that peace on which we have invested so much in sweat and resources has not yet fully returned between the Egbirra and the Bassa in Toto local government area of the state. Some elements on the two sides have made the quick return of peace difficult. We once more appeal to them go let peace reign. The exploitation of ethnic differences for personal political or other gains is morally wrong and is a disservice to humanity.

Nigeria has now entered a critical period in its democratic process. Elections to all levels of government are more or less around the corner. Our constitution recognises the right of all Nigerians to seek election into the various executive and legislative offices duly designated by that supreme law of the land. We must recognise that right of eligible men or women in Nasarawa State to seek elective offices of their individual choice. We whole-heartedly welcome all those who want to join the race. It is democracy in action. We believe that these men and women are all motivated by the desire to serve our people in the positions for which they are seeking their support and mandate.

But let us not forget or treat with disdain the rules of the game. The right to seek election within the parameters of the constitution carries with it a concomitant obligation on cultured men and women to conduct themselves with decency and decorum. Our laws do not recognise the right of desperate politicians to employ thugs for purposes of intimidating the electorate to secure undue advantage over their opponents. We cannot allow any rights not conferred on individuals or groups by the laws of our land to be exercised to the detriment of the majority of our people. Democracy thrives in peace, not chaos. Men and women who profess love of their people cannot afford to water their ambition with the blood of those they claim to love. We should allow no one to make the bones of the dead the ladder with which they hope to climb to political power.

In the past few months, some politicians in this state appear to have set themselves up as the self-appointed arbiters of our collective will. They have arrogated to themselves the right to dictate to our people. They employ means, mostly foul and despicable, to promote their self-importance. Surrounded and protected by armed thugs, these politicians seem bent on introducing a new culture of divisive politics and politics of intolerance and intimidation in our state. So far, they have shown disdainful and arrogant disrespect for constituted authority in the state and seem to carry on as if they are lords to themselves. They have our sympathies.

We have ignored their antics in the fervent hope that with time they will realise that no matter how important they believe they are, no matter how wealthy they are and certainly no matter the political clout they believe they wield, they cannot be bigger than the people who decide through the ballot box who their leaders at all levels of government should be.

Their stock in trade is the deliberate denigration of this administration by peddling lies and fabrications to deceive the people and turn them against the government. This is most unhealthy for a young state such as ours which is struggling to catch up with the rest of the people and which expects all who profess their love for it to assist in its progress and development. As a democratic government, we welcome and encourage criticisms aimed at helping us either to correct our chosen course or accept a better alternative. But these people have nothing to offer by way of genuine criticism. Nor have they been able to put forward a constructive alternative plan to move the state forward.

When we came into office, we made it unequivocally clear that we did not have a monopoly of wisdom or good ideas. We invited all those who have anything to offer which would help in laying a firm foundation for the comprehensive development of our dear state to make themselves available to the government. All those who heeded our appeal have been treated with due respect and their views given a hearing. But obviously these desperate politicians parading themselves around as latter-day champions of the people and sworn enemies of the administration, have nothing to offer the government, the state and the people, hence their resort to cheap blackmail, sabotage, misinformation and violence. We must make them fail in their diabolical act. As the various processes towards the elections draw nearer, the more desperate these people will become. And because they are drowning politically, they want to pull others down with them. We must let them drown alone.

We are sure some of you are aware that these men, operating under various names, petitioned the Independent Corrupt Practices Investigation Commission, ICPC, alleging wrong-doing on our part. Instead of waiting for the commission to do its job, they went ahead to address press conferences at which they distributed copies of their petition. We have received representation from individuals and groups who feel concerned about the allegations against the administration. Their appeals to us to respond to these allegations were well-intentioned but we prefer to let the commission do its work. We assure the good people of Nasarawa State that they have nothing to fear from the petitions. We welcome it because at the end of the day, the commission will put these shady political characters to permanent shame. Obviously, they have now resorted to the more heinous sabotage of our development efforts because they know that sooner or later, they will be hoisted on the petard of their own fabrications. We offer our commiserations.

My dear people of Nasarawa State, in the past few months, we have been under tremendous pressure by well-meaning individuals and groups from every part of our state, urging us to offer ourselves for re-election into the office of the executive governor of our dear state. Some of them have spared no personal expenses to organise rallies in the three senatorial districts as part of this pressure. They have sent emissaries to meet traditional, political, religious, community and business leaders throughout the state. Traditional rulers, student groups, religious groups, youth and women groups have all joined to impress on us the need to continue in office as governor of the state.

We are overwhelmed and genuinely touched by this overwhelming support of the various segments of our society. What can we say? Do we have the courage to tell our people that we will not answer their call to continue in the duty they, through the divine will, thrust upon us nearly three and half years ago? Can we afford to disappoint the people who believe in us and our committed leadership? Can we afford to abandon the ship whose course we have set towards the Promised Land?

Our constitution expressly permits a second term of office for the president, governors and local government chairmen. Our people are constitutionally right, therefore, in asking us to seek a second term of office.

We have weighed these questions in the past few months. We have weighed the representations made by the various groups to us. We confess this has not been an easy decision to make because it cannot be made lightly. In the course of weighing the options that would guide our decision, we have kept those clamouring for continuity in unavoidable suspense. We cannot keep them in suspense with further delay.

Democracy in our country is under both tension and test. Our past failures to successfully execute civilian to civilian transition cast a long shadow on the nation. We cannot afford to repeat our mistakes, be they of the head or of the heart. The choice before the nation is between building on the foundation of the first four-year term with the bricks of experience or starting all over again with the brittle bricks of inexperience. The choice must be weighed and made carefully and with the greatest sense of patriotism and public duty at all levels of government throughout the country.

Four years ago when we sought for the office of governor of our dear state, we did so in the genuine desire to serve our people. That desire remains a strong, motivating force today in all our actions and decisions as attested to by our record of service. Propelled by that consuming desire, encouraged by the outpouring support of our good people and mindful of the fact that for one to be asked by the people to serve them in any capacity, be it elective or appointive, is the greatest honour a man or a woman can expect from his own people, I now have the honour and the humility to say YES, loud and clear to our people's kind request. I offer myself for re-election and the renewal of my mandate IN SHA ALLAH by the good people of Nasarawa State as governor of the state in the forthcoming elections.

My yes is your yes because we have collectively decided that I seek a second four-year term in office. May the good Lord bless our decision. The battle for the renewal of my mandate has just begun. None of us should entertain any illusions about its outcome. Political victory must never be taken for granted because the battle is not won until it is won. Let us go into battle armed with bitterness towards no one but charity towards all. We must eschew violence. Our arms for battle are decency, civilised conduct and tolerance for the rights and views of others.

May the Almighty God's strength and wisdom guide our efforts. I wish us all a Happy Independence Anniversary. Thank you and God bless.