Our Chance for National Rebirth Address by Malam Nasir El-Rufai,

Our Chance for National Rebirth
Address by Malam Nasir El-Rufai, Governor of
Kaduna State, at the celebration of Nigeria’s
55th Independence Anniversary, at the
Ahmadu Bello Stadium, Kaduna, 1st October
2015
PROTOCOL
I am highly delighted to witness this
commemoration of our country’s 55th
independence anniversary. It is the first
since we got the chance to reclaim our
country. Nigeria and and its people have
traveled a tortuous path over the last few
decades. We are nowhere close to where
we ought to be, no thanks to the legacy of
bad governance, corruption, abuse of
power and disunity that has been foisted by
leaders who could have done better.
Yet we can celebrate the small mercies that
have been afforded us. Despite our
differences, and the many tensions and
stresses that have buffeted our land, we
remain bound together as a united country.
We can celebrate because 2015 is the year
that the peoples of this country decided it
was time to begin the rebirth of a nation.
Against the most concerted campaign ever
mounted by a government to divide the
people it was meant to lead, Nigerians
refused to be set against each other. I pay
tribute to the many sacrifices that were
made to make the historic elections of this
year possible. What the voters of 2015 did
was to make democracy a bulwark of
patriotism.
As we joyfully celebrate today’s occasion, I
urge us all to remember that we are only at
the beginning. The tasks before us as a
country and a people are immense. The
challenges are so huge that they can easily
disorient the unwary, and insert depression
where resolve is needed. As I contemplate
the magnitude of the job at hand, I am
encouraged by aspects of the Nigerian
character. We have proven repeatedly that
when we set our heart to a challenge, we
can master it. But our collective weakness is
that we demonstrate this burst of creative
energy only in emergencies, in moments of
crisis when the consequence of failure is
too tragic to contemplate. Yet episodic feats
of competence and performance are not
sufficient to build a country. Such feats
certainly inspire, but we should strive to be
a land of people who consistently do our
best in every assignment, small or large.
The opportunity we have been given for
national rebirth imposes on us a duty to
take steps to improve the life chances of
people. We have a duty to improve access to
jobs, education and healthcare. And we can
do this only in a climate of peace and
security. I urge us all to respect and uphold
the humanity of others, and to foster
harmony in all our little corners. The
ordinary people of this state have not
benefitted from the division, acrimony and
violence that the entrepreneurs of ethnic
and religious hatred have unleashed.
Enough is Enough!
We have been delighted by the parade and
the marches put on today. I say a big thank
you to our people in uniform for a good
show. Our school children and young people
have also given us a grand spectacle, and
they deserve our applause. They have truly
demonstrated what can be achieved
through discipline and rigorous
preparation.
On this occasion convened to celebrate
independence, I wish to remind us that as
we liberated our country, we must also free
our people by making the light of quality
education accessible to all. Education is
emancipation! The provision of free basic
education in decent schools and with skilled
teachers is one of the priorities this
government will accomplish in its four-year
term. We have spent the past few months
planning school repairs, the provision of
school furniture and the training of
teachers. Today, we move to declare a state
of emergency in education. We ask for your
support as we begin to implement
extraordinary measures in the educational
sector. Tomorrow by God’s Grace, the
Commissioner of Education, Science and
Technology will announce the raft of
measures that will be taken to ensure that
our schools’ infrastructure, tools and
teacher quality are improved significantly
within the next six weeks. We are
determined that one legacy of the rebirth of
our country will be the restoration of
education as a tool to free our people from
the fetters of ignorance.
On this occasion, the Kaduna State
government decided to extend mercy to
prisoners. Pursuant to Section 212 of the
Constitution, the prerogative of mercy was
exercised in favour of 14 prisoners. The
government commuted the death sentences
of five convicts, who will now serve prison
time. Five prisoners serving sentences of
three years and above were released on the
basis of good behavior or time served
already. In addition, three prisoners were
released on the basis on age while one
person was released due to ill health. In
doing our duty to show mercy, the
government warns that it will not tolerate
crime and threats to security.
I will not end my speech without conveying
the message of our leader and mentor
President Muhammadu Buhari on the APC’s
philosophical reason for being, and
contained in his nationwide broadcast
earlier this morning. I quote him verbatim:
“And better results for our country is what
the APC government for CHANGE is all
about……….Change does not just happen.
You and I and all of us must appreciate that
we all have our part to play if we want to
bring CHANGE about. We must change our
lawless habits, our attitude to public office
and public trust. We must change our unruly
behavior in schools, hospitals, market places,
motor parks, on the roads, in homes and
offices. To bring about change, we must
change ourselves by being law-abiding
citizens.”
Once again, I wish us all a happy 55th
independence anniversary.
Thank you for listening.
God bless Kaduna State
God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.