I want to express my appreciation to the Management and Staff of The Sun Publishing Limited, for keeping faith with the arduous task of conferring honours on Nigerians who have done well. For an organisation to follow a painstaking process to select people adjudged to have accomplished something that deserve awards says a lot. It means that such organisation believes that with great effort, the best would always be found. I commend The Sun for being consistent in giving awards.
I have followed The Sun Awards for many years and I can say that the choices of award winners have been profound. Our country has produced people with towering credentials, men and women who have done outstanding things. In all fields of human endeavours, Nigerians have recorded great accomplishments. This gives us hope that our nation has the human resources to excel the more. Extending honours to those who have excelled is a great feat. This would rekindle the spirit of hard work and determination to reach greater heights among our countrymen and women.
I am one of those who believe in Nigeria. I believe that our country is made to be great. I believe that we have all it takes to be a great nation. I believe that our tomorrow will be better than today. I believe that as Nigerians, we are the ones who will make this happen.
This year, we have the opportunity to lay the foundation for a greater Nigeria. It is an election year. Without mincing words, this year’s elections are significant. We are transiting from one government to another. The whole world is looking at us as a nation and as Nigerians. We must all strive to fully participate in the exercise to be part of history in electing credible leaders for the country at all levels. Participating in elections is a civic duty, which all eligible voters are enjoined to perform without any material inducement or coercion. We must vote according to the dictates of our conscience, bearing in mind that the choice we make may make or mar the country. It is by making the right choices that we can nurture and deepen our democracy and help the nation achieve the dreams of our founding fathers and our heroes past.
I wish to use this auspicious occasion to urge our political leaders, politicians and their supporters to play the game by the rules. At the same time, the security agents deployed for election duties must all be apolitical and neutral in discharging their duties. Above all, INEC must follow the rules it had set for the conduct of the election and also ensure that the outcome of the election reflects the wishes of Nigerians by making every vote to count.
I will not end this remarks without specially congratulating all those receiving awards today, for having scaled The Sun Board of Editors rigorous selection process and being deemed fit for honours. When you receive awards for what you have done, it is a challenge to do more. It is my hope that The Sun Awards will spur you to do more in your specific fields, in particular and for our fatherland, in general.