Igberetv reports that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Friday delivered the 59th Independence Anniversary Lecture at the Island Club, Lagos. Read the text of the lecture below.
“I intend to do everything that is necessary, everything that I can to ensure that we achieve the promises that we made and to ensure that we achieve the kind of country that we want to achieve.
And I will do that every day, every minute, for as long and God gives me life and opportunity.
The challenges confronting us now are about strengthening internal coherence and cohesion. It is about moving from affirmations of unity to the achievement of synergy in which the sum of our strengths exceeds the totality of our constituent parts.
Opportunities for smart and visionary governance abound. So, for example, while states may not be able to right now establish their police forces, they can collaborate with Nigeria Government on initiatives such as community policing…
Our administration is currently pursuing this [community Policing] option. When we set our minds to solving problems, we will find that what is truly possible is not as distant from the ideal that we seek.
In other words, the federation can only be as rich as its richest state and as strong as its strongest state. Our national indices merely aggregate the realities of our weaknesses and strengths as present in all our constituent units.
Consequently, we can only build a stronger and more prosperous nation by building stronger and more prosperous states.
We must draw inspiration from the deep wells of our history. The founding fathers of our republic – Nnamdi Azikiwe, Obafemi Awolowo and Ahmadu Bello. These three differed on many things but shared a clear belief in the Nigeria’s boundless capacity as a united country.
Regardless of their keen rivalry, they agreed on the crucial necessity of Nigeria staying united despite the many centrifugal pressures that buffeted the young nation. On this matter of unity, their differences were those of degree rather than category.
Each of them occupied different niches on the spectrum of national integration but they all shared the view that the ideal situation was one in which a united & prosperous Nigeria took its rightful place… as the most populous black nation on Earth & the foremost black power.”
