Full Text: President Buhari’s Eid-El-Fitr Message To Nigerians

Fellow Compatriots,

I greet and felicitate with you
all, especially our citizens of the Islamic faith on this auspicious occasion
of the 2015 Eid-el-Fitr celebrations.

I congratulate all those who have
successfully completed the Ramadan fast in keeping with the injunction of our
Creator. Continue…

Although we have come to the end
of this year’s month of Ramadan, I believe that a greater acceptance by
Nigerians of its key lessons of self-denial and sacrifice will serve our dear
country well as we strive to overcome our present challenges, undo the damage
done by years of bad governance and accelerate the pace of national
development.

Reviewing our dire circumstances
and the many missed opportunities of the past, some commentators and observers
have said that this is Nigeria’s last chance to get its act together and
finally begin to fulfill its God-given potential for greatness.

While not going that far, I
certainly believe that now, more than ever before, our country needs greater
self-denial, sacrifice and patriotism from all of its citizens, if we are to
quickly recover from our numerous problems and start moving in a positive
direction.

This current period of our life as
a nation offers us a great opportunity to break from the vicious triangle of
insecurity, corruption and under-development. We must collectively resolve to
seize this opportunity and unite to confront our problems.

I remain wholly committed to
giving the required leadership towards undoing the wrongs of the past, ensuring
that Nigeria truly begins to unlock its great potential and that the benefits
of our immense national resources are shared and enjoyed by all, not just by
successive cabals of corrupt leaders and their cronies.

I was very aware of your high
expectations when I assumed office and I reassure you, my fellow citizens, that
since my inauguration on the 29th of May this year, I have been working with
utmost dedication to meticulously plan and tackle the many national challenges
which we identified and promised to resolve.

To succeed however, I need your
continued support, understanding and patience.

I fully understand and share the
thirst of my long-suffering compatriots for corruption-free government
institutions that work efficiently to deliver visible development for the
benefit of all citizens.

I also share the feelings of those
who think that we should be moving faster. But I urge them and all Nigerians to
trust that my commitment to real and positive change in our nation is as firm
as ever.

There is indeed much work to be
done, but we must do it well and carefully to ensure that the great opportunity
which we now have is not lost to the “business as usual” group who selfishly or
shortsightedly prefer a status quo that panders to their personal or group
interests.

The adverse effects of years of
rot, corruption, inept and bad governance on our nation are immense, but
certainly not insurmountable if we all resolve now to place the well-being of
our nation above all other considerations and work whole-heartedly with the
present administration to achieve greater peace and security across the nation,
and reposition our country for faster economic development and progress.

May Almighty Allah continue to
guide us and bless our dear nation.

I wish you all happy Eid-el- Fitr
celebrations.

Muhammadu Buhari

President,

Federal Republic of Nigeria