US President Obama Says "To Keep Nigeria One Is A Task That Must Be Done."

ICMS, Inc Listen and Learn Series:

President Obama’s Message to the Nigerian People On Democracy and Free and Non Violent Elections

Commentary by Tom Okure, Ph.D
March 23, 2015

US President Barack Obama in a brief speech to Nigerians a few days before the National Elections talks about the importance of Democracy and the Essence of having a Credible and Violent Free Voting in the elections. He concludes his brief speech with what he calls a Nigerian saying: "To Keep Nigeria One Is A Task That Must Be Done".......That statement or saying as Obama puts it is a War Time Slogan and an ECHO and emotional calling relating to Nigeria's tumultuous history and "Civil War Past" which the younger Nigerian generation and even many of the current political elites do not understand or fully appreciate.

Yakubu Gowon

I posit here that unless you lived through Nigeria's civil war within the boundaries of the then breakaway Eastern Nigeria or Biafra as it was called, you cannot fully understand the emotional underpinning of that saying  "To Keep Nigeria One Is A Task That Must Be Done."  It was not just a saying but the Policy Objective of the Nigerian Federal Government and the determination of former military ruler and the administration of Yakubu Gowon who was  the head of state of Nigeria from 1966 to 1975 to keep Nigeria united as one country.

Odumegwu Ojukwu

For the historical record and to counter Nigeria's Unity Slogan, breakaway Biafra led by Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu who served as the military governor of the Eastern Region of Nigeria in 1966, the leader of the breakaway Republic of Biafra put forth his own War Time Slogans for the East..."They (meaning Nigeria) Want Your Money, Not Your Prosperity, Biafra be Vigilant"..."The Price of Liberty is Eternal Vigilance, Biafrans be Vigilant." ....These too are also Nigerian sayings.  

I conclude by noting that Nigeria is an Enduring Nation and has withstood many dividing challenges in the past and will overcome the challenge posed by BOKO HARAM.  I am deeply grateful to the President of the United States for reminding Nigerians during this voting season of what is at stack here for Nigeria and that is the necessity for a fair and credible elections through the ballot box ..."To Keep Nigeria One Is A Task That Must Be Done"

Watch the Video of  President Obama’s Message to the Nigerian People




President Obama released a message to the Nigerian people to highlight the opportunity that the upcoming elections present for all Nigerians to stand together in rejecting violence and extremism and instead show their support for a more peaceful, secure, and prosperous future.

For a full text of the speech, follow this link President Obama’s Message to the Nigerian People