President Muhammadu Buhari has appealed to Nigerians to avoid hatred and intolerance to enable the government achieve its objectives of making life more meaningful to all.
He reasoned that the objectives for an improved society could best be achieved in an atmosphere of harmony and peaceful co-existence.
Ahead of the 2019 general election, the president also called on Nigerians to conduct themselves well to ensure the exercise to be peaceful and credible.
He said they should therefore conduct themselves with utmost sense of fairness, justice and peaceful co-existence.
The remarks are contained in the nationwide broadcast made Tuesday morning on the occasion of the 2018 Democracy Day in the country by President Buhari.
Read also: President Muhammadu Buhari’s 2018 Democracy Day National Broadcast
His words: “My dear country men and women, as we all celebrate our democratic experience, let us resolve to avoid hatred and intolerance; we can only achieve our objectives in an atmosphere of harmony and peaceful co-existence.
“Finally, the up-coming months will usher us into another season of general elections. Let me use this opportunity to urge us all to conduct ourselves, our wards and our constituencies with the utmost sense of fairness, justice and peaceful co-existence such that we will have not only hitch free elections but also a credible and violence free process.”
The president used the opportunity of the broadcast to highlight some of the major achievements of his administration which clocks three years on Tuesday.
Expressing appreciation to God for making the administration come this far, Buhari said he was happy that his administration promised Change when it came to power and had been carrying out changes in the lives of the country for the better.
He said within the three years of his administration so far, it had been able to perform well on its major focus areas of improving the economy of the country, ensuring security and the fight against corruption.
Specifically, he cited the rescue of 106 Chibok, 104 Dapchi girls and over 16,000 other persons held by the Boko Haram as some of its achievement in the security area.
The president who boasted that the terrorists’ group, Boko Haram, had been contained to a reasonable extent declared that the unfortunate incidences of kidnappings, herdsmen and farmers clashes in several communities which had led to high number of fatalities and loss of properties across the country was being addressed and the identified culprits and their sponsors would be made to face the full wrath of the law.
Said he: “All the three tiers of government are presently engaged with communities and religious organizations to restore peaceful co-existence among Nigerians.
“I want to commend members of the Multinational Joint Task Force drawn from Niger, Benin, Chad, Cameroon and our own country in collaboration with the International Community who are assisting in the fight against insurgency in the North East.
“I also commend the gallantry of members of our Armed Forces and other security agencies that have continued to provide security for lives and properties across the country. State and local traditional authorities are helping with much needed intelligence in this fight against insurgency.”
Stressing that the government was pained by loss of lives as a result of insurgency and other criminal activities, he said his government would do everything possible to ensure peace.
He also spoke about the success of his administration in the fight against corruption saying following the different strategies put in place, huge amount of money had been recovered.
“Like I have always said, if we don’t kill corruption, corruption will destroy the country. Three years into this Administration, Nigerians and the international community have begun to applaud our policies and determination to fight corruption. We are more than ever before determined to win this war, however hard the road is. I therefore appeal to all well-meaning Nigerians to continue to support us in this fight.
“Various policy measures already put in place to stem the tide of corrupt practices are yielding remarkable results,” he said.
The president also stressed that the different measures taken to improve the economy had started to yield fruits.
He said among other things, the social investment programme of the government had helped in “graduating our citizens from poverty through capacity building, investment and direct support.”
He said the major strategic objective had been to restore livelihood, economic opportunities and sustenance for the poor across the country.
The president also hinted that in few days to come, he would be joined by many promising young Nigerians to sign into law the “Not Too Young to Run” Bill.
The commemoration of this year’s Democracy Day, the president said, was a celebration of freedom, a salute to the resilience and determination of Nigerians and a recommitment by Government to keep its promise to lead Nigeria into a new era of justice and prosperity.
