President Goodluck easter message to nigerians

EASTER MESSAGE TO THE NATION
FROM PRESIDENT GOODLUCK EBELE
JONATHAN, GCFR Dear Compatriots, I greet and felicitate with you all
as we celebrate Easter which
commemorates the resurrection
of our Lord, Jesus Christ after
his redemptive self-sacrifice for
the eternal salvation of mankind. Irrespective of our religion or
faith, all holidays provide us with
a fresh opportunity to establish
stronger bonds with our family,
friends and all those around us
for more enduring, harmonious and beneficial relationships. As we celebrate this year’s
Easter therefore, I urge all
Nigerians to rededicate
themselves to living in peace and
oneness with all members of their
communities no matter their ethnicity, religious beliefs or
places of origin. By now, it ought to be an
accepted fact amongst us that
our immense potential for
greatness in the comity of
nations derives in the main from
our collective strength as a country of close to 170 million
people and the acclaimed richness
of our diverse human resources
and natural endowments. It follows, therefore, that to
successfully achieve our vision of
becoming one of the most
dominant nations on the global
stage in the shortest possible
time, we must stay together as a people and continue to
effectively resist by all possible
means, the evil machinations of
global terrorists and their
misguided domestic accomplices
who seek to provoke turmoil, hatred and harmful divisions
among us. I assure all Nigerians that our
security agencies, armed forces
and I will continue to fully
discharge our constitutional
responsibilities for protecting the
unity and territorial integrity of this country with all the powers
and forces at our disposal. We must have peace, security
and stability to effectively
implement our agenda for
national transformation in all
parts of the country and we shall
continue to work ceaselessly to re-establish the prerequisite
conditions for nationwide
progress and development. For your part, dear countrymen
and women, I urge you to
continue to exhibit restraint and
understanding in the face of
seeming provocations. Those who
mindlessly and indiscriminately attack churches, schools, health
workers, motor-parks, banks and
ordinary road users must be
seen as they truly are: the
brainwashed pawns of
international terrorism. They do not represent any true
religion or section of the country
and we must never play into
their hands by succumbing to
their nefarious ploys to incite
religious, ethnic hatred and division among us. It is my hope and prayer that as
we celebrate the glorious
resurrection of our Saviour,
Jesus Christ, his lessons of self-
sacrifice, brotherly love, placing
others before self, tolerance, obedience, respect for lawful
authorities, dutifulness, diligence,
honesty, justice and fairness to
all will take firmer root in our
beloved country and help us to
overcome present challenges and build the more peaceful, secure,
united, progressive and
prosperous nation of our dreams. I wish you all happy Easter
celebrations. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR
President,
Federal Republic of Nigeria
March 30, 2013