President Goodluck Jonathan has again, assured that the unborn generation would meet a “different Nigeria”, even as he said that the amalgamation of the north and the south in 1914 was not by accident.
Speaking at the Apostolic Church, Jabi, Abuja on Sunday, the President posited that the amalgamation was ordained by God and therefore, enjoined all Nigerians to translate our diversity into blessings.
His words, “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 make 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.
“We have countries that have multi billion dollars in reserve because of their wealth and nobody talks about them but here we are just talking about 40,000 dollars.
“But the biggest to the smallest country talks about Nigeria. Why? It is because of the diversity from the north to the south, the human, 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.
President Jonathan, who said he did not come with a prepared speech for fear of being misrepresented in the media, assured the younger ones that he would leave behind a different Nigeria with equal opportunity to all.
“I don’t have a formal address. Because for those of us in politics, these days are not the best days to make speeches because any statement we make, people look at how to paint it.
“The next day when you read the newspapers, you start doubting if that is what you said. So any statement we make is always used against us but I am quite pleased to be here with you today to worship with you.”
“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”.
