President Goodluck Jonathan and the President of the Senate, Senator David Mark, have felicitated with Nigerians as they join the rest of the world in celebrating Christmas.
The President, in a message he personally signed, gave thanks to God, saying it was due to His grace and benevolence that the country has overcome the many challenges it had confronted since the last Christmas.
He said his administration would continue to do all it can to make life better for all Nigerians.
Jonathan’s message to Nigerians reads in full: “I greet and felicitate with you all as we celebrate Christmas once again.
“I join our Christian compatriots and all other Nigerians in giving thanks to God Almighty whose Grace and Benevolence has helped our nation to overcome the many challenges it has had since we celebrated Christmas last year.
“The annual commemoration of the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ is a most auspicious time for us, as individuals and as a nation, to rededicate ourselves to the virtues and ideals which the Messiah preached and exemplified during his earthly ministry.
“Let us all therefore resolve this Christmas to make the ideals of peace, harmony, tolerance, love and goodwill to all even more manifest in our interactions with others.
“It remains my sincere belief that no height of human accomplishment is beyond us as a nation, if we can overcome our differences, such as they are, and forge a binding national consensus to put the progress and well-being of the country above all other considerations.
“My administration will do all within its powers and abilities to ensure that when representatives of our people assemble for the forthcoming national conference next year, they will have every opportunity and encouragement to make very significant contributions towards forging the required consensus for sustained national peace, unity and progress.
“It is also my expectation that the national conference will contribute in no small measure towards the urgent resolution of contentious issues which currently hinder our progress as a nation.
“With God Almighty as our Guide, Strength and Enabler, My Administration will continue to implement its Agenda for National Transformation in furtherance of its avowed commitment to improving the living conditions of all Nigerians.
“We will continue to count on the prayers, support and cooperation of all patriotic Nigerians in the coming year as we consolidate and build on our achievements in several sectors including national security, power supply, communications, transportation, health and education.
“As we commemorate the birth of the Prince of Peace, let us all strive to honour Him more by living our lives as He taught; by making personal sacrifices for the good of others, by showing greater love for others, by being fairer and more honest in our dealings with others, by being ever-willing to forgive those who offend us and by always extending goodwill towards others.
“On behalf of myself, my family and the Federal Government, I wish you all very joyful Christmas celebrations, and a peaceful and prosperous 2014.”
Mark, for the umpteenth time, called on Nigerians to sink their differences irrespective of ethnic, religious or political leanings and put the peace and unity of the nation above other considerations.
Mark implored Nigerians to make peace and religious harmony the cornerstone of our relationship with one another.
The president of the Senate recalled the chequered political history of the nation, coupled with the ethno- eligious conflicts that have claimed scores of lives and property and pleaded with Nigerians to rethink.
He specifically called on the political class to lead the path of peace, law and order, cautioning that national interest and cohesion should not be sacrificed on the alter of individual or group ambitions.
Mark noted that politics should ordinarily be a game and not a battle field and reminded those fanning the embers of war or disunity not to set the house ablaze before they even get there.
According to Mark: “We have come a long way as a people. We should see ourselves as one people, one nation with a common destiny. We cannot be moving in the reverse order when other nations are going to the moon.
“We have always admitted that the challenges are enormous but we must realise that nobody is coming from the space to solve our problems for us. We should therefore be able to find home grown solutions to our challenges in a manner that would comfort and indeed satisfy all sections.”
To the present crop of leaders, Senator Mark told them that it is incumbent on “all of us to act and behave in a responsible manner that would give trust and confidence to the people”.
He requested the religious to fervently pray for the nation and its leaders, adding that the time calls for wise counsel and divine intervention .
The National Assembly, he assured Nigerians, would always stand by the people, reiterating that the welfare and security of the citizens remain the cornerstone of all legislations.
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