Osinbajo says Nigeria’s Collective Vision Remains intact at 61

27 Sep Osinbajo says Nigeria’s Collective Vision Remains intact at 61

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, has said that despite the security, economic, religious, and ethnic challenges faced by the country, the collective vision of a united, peaceful and prosperous Nigeria remained undefeated, 61 years after independence.

Osinbajo spoke at the 61st Independence Anniversary Inter-denominational Church Service, and 45th anniversary service of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), held at the National Ecumenical Centre, Abuja.

The governors of Lagos, Oyo, Plateau, and Imo states were also positive about the country’s future and called for prayers for Nigeria, and urging the citizens to continue to play their part in the unity and development of the country.

The theme of the anniversary service attended by many dignitaries was, “Together, Come Let Us build.” Present at the service were the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, National Assembly members, as well as members of the judiciary and the Federal Executive Council.
There were also eminent religious leaders, including the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adeboye, and CAN President, Rev. Supo Ayokunle.

Osinbajo, in a speech titled, “The Vision Undefeated”, stated at the anniversary service, “We have since become the most educated and most entrepreneurial nation in Africa. Ten of our 36 states have larger economies than at least 15 African countries. From our ranks, we have the most accomplished men and women in the arts, the sciences, in sports, in technology and commerce.

“Our current trials cannot draw the curtains on our story, because the vision is for an appointed time and because this country is greater than the sum of its parts and the sum of its mistakes; and because the God we serve is greater than the sum of our collective hopes and imagination, our nation will surmount our current travails and emerge in victory.”

The vice president recalled, “Sixty-one years ago, our founding fathers laid out a vision, that the many nations and ethnicities, North and South of the Niger, 300 languages or more, differing tribes, and religions, would by the grace of God become one nation.

“That their diverse strengths and gifts would coalesce into a formidable economic and regional force.

“A beacon of hope to all peoples of African descent, long bruised by the afflictions of slavery and colonial exploitation. Nigeria will be the reaffirmation of their dignity and a tonic to their spirits.

“The Lord blessed the vision and prospered the land with richness in oil, in gas, in minerals of every hue. In fruit trees, in palm trees, in crops of every kind, in savannahs and forests, arable land, seas, rivers, and the riches embedded in them. That vision of our forebears inheres in the words of our National Motto: Unity and Faith, Peace and Progress.

“Through the years, we worked that vision, through thick and thin. From subjection to colonial monarchy, to a sovereign republic, to civil rule to military rule. We fought a bitter war amongst brothers that cost millions of lives, and though we still wear the deep scars of those wounds, the Lord preserved the Republic.”

Osinbajo said, “But today, yet again, our path has been dogged by conflict, religious and ethnic, economic challenges, insurgencies and banditry, much darkness, many valleys, and many thorns. And so many ask, ‘can the vision of the nation united, the nation peaceful, the nation righteous and the nation prosperous, yet, abide?”

He believed, “Our current trials cannot draw the curtains on our story, because the vision is for an appointed time,” quoting Habakkuk 2:3, which says, “For indeed the vision is yet for an appointed time; though it tarries. But at the end, it will speak, and it will not lie. We will wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.”