Osinbajo, to Nigerians on June 12: Use Democracy to Strengthen National Unity

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, has charged Nigerians to embrace democracy with a view to strengthening national unity and building social cohesion.

Osinbajo, who spoke yesterday at the Church Service to mark this year’s Democracy Day, in Abuja, declared that, “democracy works because the values of justice, equality, fairness and inclusion, which underpin democratic governance, are also at the heart of our Christian faith”

According to him, “Democracy works, all the more so in a heterogeneous union like ours, through negotiations and compromises carried out in good faith. And each year brings us closer to a more perfect union, a more mature democracy.
The Vice President, who was represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, said, the commemoration provided “opportunity to reflect on how far we have come as a people. It invites sobriety and gratitude.

“It allows us to remember the decades characterised by a lack of freedom, suspicion and uncertainty, and calls to mind the prayers, faith and courageous actions that brought us to a turning point in 1999, one accompanied by hope and promise.

“In Esther 9:20-22, following the great deliverance of the Jews from the devious plots of Haman, it says: ‘Mordecai recorded these events, and he sent letters to all the Jews throughout the provinces of King Xerxes, near and far, to have them celebrate annually the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar as the time when the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month when their sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning into a day of celebration.
And so in celebrating our Democracy Day, in-line with biblical and historical traditions, we assure ourselves that the hands of God are never too short to deliver and that His grace will always prevail for our good. Equally important, is that we also assure ourselves, that no matter how challenging the situation or moment might be, there is always enough God-given strength within us, as a people, to surmount them”

The Nation.