I felicitate with fellow Nigerians at home and abroad on the occasion of the 59th Independence Anniversary of our dear country, Nigeria.
As Nigeria comes of age, with its people increasingly asserting themselves in every sphere of life across the globe, there is indeed much to be proud of in being a Nigerian. Let us count our blessings and be driven forward by them.
But there is still much to be done to fully realise the lofty dreams that inspired our founding fathers in their brave struggle that ended colonialism on our shores 59 years ago. We must never lose sight of our God-given potentials and we must be prepared to do our part in realising Nigeria’s greatness.
For this generation of Nigerians, we must not waver or be discouraged by the challenges of nation-building. The current challenges that Nigeria is going through are definitely not insurmountable and should be seen as a necessary process towards the attainment of greatness.
Therefore, our historic mission today is to keep in mind those dreams of our founding fathers, put our hands to the plough of nation-building and hand over to future generations a great foundation to build on.
The thrust of my goodwill message is to admonish my fellow compatriots to continue to have faith that Nigeria will be great and remain the indissoluble entity envisioned by our founding fathers.
God has endowed us with all it takes to be great. It is imperative on all of us, therefore, to play our parts individually and collectively to build the nation we envision and achieve our destiny of prominence and influence on the global stage.
With our creativity, resilience, hard work and the eagle spirit, we shall surely ride the storms of these challenges to reach the heights that we desire.
We have no need to despair as a people. The leadership of this country is working hard to improve the lives of Nigerians. I appreciate all citizens for the support and the understanding shown so far and urge everyone to remain steadfast.
I assure fellow Nigerians that your representatives in the ninth National Assembly will provide legislative support for every idea and initiative geared towards making Nigeria our pride and beloved homeland.
—Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan, Ph.D, CON, President of the Senate,
Federal Republic of Nigeria.
