Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari, on
Saturday, assured of his administration’s
commitment to ensure peace and security across
the country.
Buhari, who stated this in an Easter message to
Christians, which he personally signed, said his
government would ensure the end of politically
motivated killings in the country.
The statement read:
“Fellow Nigerians,
I rejoice with you all, especially our Christian
brothers and sisters, as we celebrate Easter.
For Christians all over the world, this celebration is
in commemoration of the supreme sacrifice which
Jesus Christ made for the salvation of mankind.
The Gospels also tell us that during his earthly
ministry, Jesus Christ repeatedly urged his disciples
and followers to “love one another as I have loved
you”.
As we celebrate Easter this year, I sincerely believe
that it will serve our dear nation very well if we all
imbibe this essential message of Jesus Christ and
truly learn to love our countrymen and women as
we love ourselves.
Indeed, we will surely make faster progress towards
the achievement of the peaceful, united, strong,
progressive and prosperous country we all desire if,
as a nation, we eschew all divisive, parochial, ethnic
and religious sentiments and rivalries, and begin to
live more harmoniously with our compatriots, as
Jesus Christ and the founders of the world’s other
great religions enjoined mankind.
Our unfortunate notoriety in recent years as a
country where the blood of men, women and
children are wantonly and callously shed in frequent
SinParties of criminal, political, ethnic and religious
violence has become very embarrassing and utterly
unacceptable.
My administration is determined to achieve greater
peace and security across our nation by ending the
avoidable conflicts and crises that hinder our
national progress.
I ask for greater support from all Nigerians in this
regard. We must put a stop to politically motivated
killings. Our communities must be made safe again
for all inhabitants to live together in peace and
harmony.
Our armed forces, police and other security
agencies are being progressively reformed,
repositioned and empowered to win the war against
terrorism and make mass killings, abductions and
other criminal atrocities things of the past in our
beloved country.
Let us all also play our parts as patriotic citizens and
do all that we can to ensure that we make Nigeria a
safer, more peaceful and happier place for its
people and others.
Faith, belief and the fulfilment of expectations are
also key themes of the Easter celebration. I urge you
all therefore, to continue to have faith in the future
greatness of our country and to believe that the
CHANGE my administration promised will surely
come to fruition.
That CHANGE, which we all yearn for, will certainly
occur more rapidly if we all place the love of our
country above selfish personal and group interests.
The National Assembly has just passed the 2016
budget. I assure all Nigerians that we will do our
utmost best to ensure that the budget, the first since
my election as President, is efficiently and
successfully implemented towards achieving our
objective of faster economic growth and
development.
I thank the vast majority of Nigerians for their
patience and understanding in the first ten months
of this administration.
As we go forward, I assure you all that we are
working very hard to overcome the challenges we
encountered on assumption of office.
We are moving on with an unshaken resolve and
determination to deliver on the mandate you gave
us on March 28, last year.
I wish you all very happy Easter celebrations."
Muhammadu Buhari
March 26, 2016