ABUJA – President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday reiterated his call on Nigerians to unite against insurgency, saying that bickering among selves only served as morale booster to terrorists/insurgents.
Jonathan made the call while accepting his nomination as the PDP candidate for the presidential election in 2015 at the party’s National Convention in Abuja.
He stressed that bickering among Nigerians sends a wrong signal to insurgents that the country was divided in the war against terror and could also demoralise the armed forces.
“For this reason, we must remain united. I believe that together as a people and with God on our side, we can defeat terrorism and emerge even stronger and more united as a country.
“Experience in many countries shows that there may be the tendency for the escalation of violence in an election year like this.
“We must all be vigilant, every one of us. Only by a united action can we defeat terrorism and unnecessary violence”, he said.
The President stated that the security of lives and property of Nigerians remained a priority of the Federal Government, assuring that election would hold in all states of the federation.
While saluting the armed forces and security services for their loyalty and commitment to the nation, Jonathan said he would continue to ensure they had the best in equipment and training.
Jonathan reminded his fellow party members that the opposition would employ every means including intimidation and false accusation in their desperation for power.
He urged them not to descend to that level but to remain focussed on the mission at hand to secure the country’s future.
“Let me emphasise again that nobody’s political ambition is worth the blood of any Nigerian.
“We must eschew violence even in the face of the most outrageous act of desperation.
“We must make sure our supporters have their voter card or get them motivated and eager to make their mark for our children, for a stronger economy and for the security of the country’s future.”
The President noted that in the course of the campaign ahead of the 2015 general elections, some office seekers would say it was time for change.
“But while they are changing from one name to another and from one party to another, we have already brought change to this country.
“Has change not come to our railway system? Has change not come to our airports? Has change not come to our road networks?
“Has change not come to our agricultural sector? Has change not come to our electoral process? Has change not come to ‘almajiri’ education?
“Is change not coming to the power sector? What we need today is to consolidate on our gains in order to secure our future.”
While acknowledging the economic challenges facing the country due to sliding oil prices, Jonathan reaffirmed the determination of his administration to address them.
He said the country faced similar challenges back in 2008 and 2009 arising from unstable oil prices, but it confronted and overcame them.
The President assured Nigerians that his administration had a capable economic team which had already mapped out strategies to manage the current oil price volatility and its threat to the nation.
Jonathan, who highlighted his various economic policies and programmes and their benefits to Nigerians, said his administration was working to revitalise the insurance industry.
According to him, the country’s insurance sector had not achieved its full potential when compared to other emerging economies.
“Today, only three million of our citizens are insurance policy holders, and overall insurance penetration is less than 0.5 per cent of our GDP.
“We want to transform this sector just as we have done for our banking sector and our pension system.
“Our goal is to grow the total insurance premium in our country from the present N300 billion to N1trillion in the next few years.
“We are also aiming to increase the number of direct jobs created in this sector from the present 30,000 to over 100,000 in the next few years”, he said. (NAN)
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