• We've done well, say president, ministers
• House of Reps seeks strong institutions
FOR those who think that the country may disintegrate, words of caution came from President Goodluck Jonathan and Senate President David Mark on Wednesday. They insisted that the nation would remain indivisible despite its myriad of challenges.
The two leaders and others spoke in commemoration of the nation's Democracy Day.
Taking stock of the achievements of his administration in the last two years, Jonathan declared that he and his team had fulfilled their electoral promises in 2011 and in some cases surpassed them.
The president's position was anchored on the earlier presentations of the administration's scorecard by key members of his cabinet including the Coordinating Minister of the Economy (CME) and Finance Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and her National Planning counterpart, Dr. Shamsudeen Usman, who gave overviews of the performance of the critical sector of the economy.
The occasion was the public presentation of the mid-term report of the transformation agenda 2011-2013 as part of the activities to mark this year's Democracy Day by the president and also to mark the two years of his administration in office.
According to Jonathan, the economy had recorded an impressive Gross Domestic Growth (GDP) and "we have surpassed our annual targets in eight out of the 14 broad areas of transformation agenda. Consequently, Nigeria's global ranking by GDP has improved from the 44th position in 2010 to 36th.
"Today, we can proudly speak of such achievements as the reduction of our fiscal reserves to $9.5 billion and our external reserves to $48.8 billion as at first quarter of 2013. These are in addition to financial sector and external validation of our macro-economic achievements by the key international rating agencies.
The President underscored the imperativeness of Nigeria remaining together as one indivisible entity, noting that doing otherwise would not serve the nation any good.
His words: "As we celebrate this year's Democracy Day, let us remember that democracy thrives amidst the greatest disagreements, spurring dialogue and galvanizing consensus and a common focus. We must reaffirm our oneness when we flagged 100 years of togetherness as a united political entity, defined by discussion, consultation, mutual respect and commitment."
But the President showed apparent displeasure about an opinion poll earlier this week by a national daily (not The Guardian), which rated some of his cabinet members merely above average, questioning the criteria used by the newspaper in arriving at its conclusion.
"Only on Monday, one of the dailies did an assessment of the ministries and performance of ministers, the first thing I looked for but didn't see is the criteria that were used to access the performance of the ministers. Because when people mark, they mark with a marking scheme", he said.
Present on the occasion were his wife, Dame Patience; Vice President, Namadi Sambo, his wife, Amina; Senate President David Mark, his Deputy, Ike Ekweremadu; Deputy Speaker, Ekmeka Ihedioha; Senate Leader, Ndoma Egba; past Heads of State including Gen. Yakubu Gowon, Alhaji Shehu Shagari; Chief Ernest Shonekan; two former Senate Presidents, Adolphus Wabara and Ken Nnamani; former Chief of General Staff, Gen. Oladipo Diya, First Republic Federal Commissioner for Information, Chief E. K. Clark, among others
Also on the occasion were former Interim President of Liberia, Prof. Amos Sawyer and Founder /President of Rainbow Coalition PUSH, Rev. Jesse Jackson.
While reviewing the democratic journey so far particularly the security challenges, Mark submitted that there was no alternative to democracy as a system of government.
In a good will message to Nigerians to mark this year's Democracy Day, he charged Nigerians to continue to demonstrate attitude that would promote nationalism despite religious, political and ethnic differences.
"We had the initial birth pain of this democratic arrangement. Fourteen years after, I can submit that we have matured; we are consolidating and moving on.
"Differences of political affiliation, or religion, notwithstanding no Nigerian can deny the fact that democracy is now the way of life," he said.
Mark assured that the Senate and indeed the National Assembly would continue to lay a solid democratic framework for the executive to deliver the dividends of democracy to the citizenry.
"We shall continue to co-operate with the executive arm of government without compromising on our independence.
"We are mindful of the fact that we must maintain mutual co-operation for effective delivery of dividends of democracy. We shall do our part honestly, fairly and with the fear of God", he said.
He maintained that the National Assembly would not compromise its constitutional mandate on oversight function, and legislation to make life much better for the ordinary man.
The Senate President tasked Nigerians to put the nation in prayer at all times to overcome its challenges especially insecurity, "because we need peace, we need each other for unity and progress.
"All we need is a collective resolve to confront our challenges and find a lasting solution to them."
He said that the state of emergency proclaimed in some states of the federation was a last resort to tame the lingering menace of insecurity and bringing normalcy back to the land.
He added: "It was by choice and design that the nation chose democracy as best form of government. Democracy promotes rule of law, upholds human rights, freedom of speech and indeed participatory.
"Whichever faith or religion, I urge Nigerians to continue to pray for peace, unity and progress of the nation."
On his part, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, urged those in authority to build institutions of governance in order that the country's democracy could stand on sure footing for the benefit of the future generation.
In a statement commemorating the May 29 Democracy Day issued in Abuja by his Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Malam Imam Imam, Tambuwal urged Nigerians to nurture and protect the country's democracy by participating actively in governance at local, state and federal levels.
According to him, one of the cardinal principles of democracy is openness and transparency. "Therefore, those in authority must be open and transparent in the conduct of their activities at all times," he said.
Similarly, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha, commended Nigerians for their patience and resilience in preserving the unity and integrity of the Nigerian nation.
Also, Plateau State Governor Jonah Jang urged Nigerians to be patient with one another "in our democratic journey", describing the country's return to democratic rule as "the best thing that has happened to us."
This was contained in his Democracy Day message signed by his Director of Press, Mr. James Mannok. He also urged Nigerians to appreciate the nation's path to greatness as evidenced by the developmental strides in terms of infrastructural provision and wealth creation witnessed across the country.
The Guardian