President Goodluck Jonathan
President Goodluck Jonathan on Sunday said the amalgamation of Nigeria was ordained by God and not a mistake.
He also stated that his administration was doing all it could to ensure that future generations meet a more united Nigeria without the ethnic challenges.
Nigeria will next year celebrate 100 years of amalgamation of north and south, an amalgamation done under the British colonial government in 1914. The most populous African country eventually got its independence in 1960.
Speaking at the Apostolic Faith Church, Awolowo Road, Jabi, Abuja, Mr. Jonathan said Nigeria has its own fair share of challenges with the major problem being absence of love and unity among citizens.
“As a nation, we have our challenges, no doubt about that and anytime I look at the history of Nigeria and the challenges we face and when I read parts of the old testament about when the Israelites decided to move out of Egypt to the Promised Land, we have something quite similar.
“As you are getting closer, you meet more obstacles and thank God for the sermon we heard and of course the songs showed that the greatest problem we have is love and unity. Yes, Nigeria was amalgamated by our colonial masters in 1914. By 1st January next year, Nigeria as a state will be 100 years old. But I totally agree with our man of God that it was not by chance, it was ordained by God. If God didn’t will it at that point, the north and south would not have come together.
“The details of the north and south coming together makes Nigeria a very great country. I use to say that Nigeria is great not because of oil, we have countries that produce more oil than Nigeria but nobody talks about them,” the president said.
“We have countries that have multi billion dollars in reserve because of their wealth and nobody talks about them. But the biggest to the smallest country talks about Nigeria. Why? Because of the diversity from the north to the south, the human and natural resources, the potentials and the population that we have.
“So, Nigeria is a country that has a special blessing from God. It is left for us to appreciate God and continue to pray for God’s intervention and this country will continue to be great.
“I promise our children that we are totally committed to make sure that they meet a different Nigeria.
We will collectively work hard to overcome these barriers, these feelings of oh that I am Christian, I am a Muslim, I am Hausa, I am Ijaw. Immediately we cross that barrier and we begin to believe that we are all Nigerians and we are committed to the development of this country , our children will surely meet a better Nigeria, we will try our best but this is not the time to reel out what we are doing or what we are not doing, otherwise they will think I am here to campaign.
But I assure you, this congregation and indeed all Nigerians that by the will of God and your support, I am here today from nowhere. Any child of Nigeria can be where I am. I come from the smallest state in this country, even within the state, one of the smallest communities in Bayelsa state. Even within the community, one of the smallest families, but I am here today by the grace of God. That is the type of Nigeria we want to create, a Nigeria where you can get what you want if you work hard, its not because you know somebody who know somebody that will talk to somebody. A Nigeria that our children If they work hard will get whatever they want just like in other free societies like America and so on. We will work with you to help you to get to wherever you want to go,” he said.
Mr. Jonathan also commended clerics for all they have “been doing for this country, for your prayers and I always say that I will continue to say it but for your prayers probably it would have been worse than this”.
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