My dear friends on facebook, It is with a heavy heart that I read your comments and mails with respect to the sad events that occurred on the day we were celebrating 50 years of our existence as a nation and discussing the need to chart a new course for our future.
My dear friends on facebook, It is with a heavy heart that I read your comments and mails with respect to the sad events that occurred on the day we were celebrating 50 years of our existence as a nation and discussing the need to chart a new course for our future.
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Although the security agencies put in significant efforts to pre-empt the attacks, it is very sad that lives of innocent Nigerians were lost to this heartless act against the people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Again I offer my condolences to the families of the victims in particular and the nation in general.
Although this is somewhat a new experience for us, especially as bombings had never taken place in the Federal Capital Territory before last Friday’s incident, the security agencies have been instructed to leave no stone unturned in securing lives and property.
I am being briefed regularly and I am confident that the agencies are on top of the situation. I implore Nigerians to go about their normal businesses and should not be intimidated or become paranoid over the cowardly act of a few Nigerians who obviously do not have the love of this country at heart.
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Dear friends, if the aim of the attackers is to create a sense of insecurity and panic across the nation in order to advance their narrow interests, Nigerians will stand up to them and make it clear that they cannot be intimidated.
Nigeria is bigger than any individual or any collection of individuals. Nobody can hold a country of 150 million people to ransom any more. The interest of a few conceited, ill-motivated individuals cannot be bigger than our national aspirations.
I want to report to you that the security agencies are working round the clock in collaboration with other agencies within and outside the country to fish out the master minds and executors of the attacks and subsequently bring them to justice.
I want to assure Nigerians that blackmail and intimidation will not stop the Federal Government from doing the right thing. Whoever is found culpable will face the full weight of the law. I have requested the security agencies to do their work for our citizens will accept nothing less than justice. We would be failing the past, present and future generations of Nigerians if we do not get to the root of this dastardly act and seek justice the way it should be done in a civilised society such as ours.
It is unfortunate that an unprecedented national tragedy of this nature has been politicised by people whose only interest is what they can get from the country and not what the country can get from them. They specialise in playing one part of the country against the other and riding on sectional sentiments to promote their narrow ambitions. I believe that Nigerians have grown beyond this parochial mentality. To prove to you that their interests are personal and not for the people they claim to represent you will notice that while this administration has spent considerable time and resources as well as focused attention on the recent floods in Sokoto, Zamfara, Kebbi and Jigawa states and the Cholera epidemic in certain parts of Nigeria as well as the lead poisoning that has consumed 400 children in Zamfara state, these so called concerned people have not been known to address any of these issues nor offer a word of succour to the victims. This is irrefutable proof that their only focus is how to get power and not the wellbeing of the long suffering people of Nigeria whom I have sworn to Almighty God to protect.
At this critical time, we should be mourning the dead and praying for the families left behind. What they need at this sad hour is not politics but compassion and empathy.
Finally, the Federal Government will do everything possible to share in the pains of the bereaved and the injured. We will give the best medical care possible to the injured. We recognise that nothing can compensate for the loss of a loved one. But we offer our shoulders to the bereaved in this moment of need.I want to assure you my friends, brothers and sisters on facebook that the Federal Government is very much aware of its most fundamental responsibility to its citizens: THE DEFENCE OF YOUR RIGHT TO LIFE, THE PROTECTION OF YOUR LIBERTY AND PROPERTY. On this mission, we cannot afford to fail. We will give our utmost, indeed our very best for the peace, unity and progress of Nigeria. May God Almighty bless Nigeria and stand with us. GEJ
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