A GOODWILL MESSAGE TO THE PEOPLE OF DELTA STATE FROM HIS EXCELLECNY, DR. EMMANUEL EWETA UDUAGHAN, GOVERNOR OF DELTA STATE ON THE OCCASION OF THE 47TH INDEPENDENCE ANNIVERSARY OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA, AT THE CENOTAPH, HIGH COURT ROAD, ON MONDAY 1ST OCTOBER, 2007.

I salute and congratulate you all on the 47th anniversary of our dear country's independence. Looking back at the years, we sincerely have cause to be happy and to celebrate this day.

All the travails of nationhood notwithstanding, God has made it possible for us to surmount most of our difficulties. God has also given us victory over our challenges and He continues to direct, guide and sustain our steps and our progress. For this day therefore, we have every cause to give glory to God.

In spite of the turbulence of the past, we remain united, peaceful and harmonious as a people. Most of our problems are manifestations of a developing society. Our pride is in our resolute determination to forge ahead as a united people of a prosperous State in a stable country. On the political front, we remain a free society committed to the pursuit of democratic values and culture. What is required of us is unalloyed faith in the future of our great State.

As a State, we have come a long way. This administration is out to strengthen the solid and enduring foundation already laid on which, present and future generations can happily build upon. Before independence and particularly in the last few years, our people have expressed resentment at the neglect and injustices suffered by our region, despite producing over eighty per cent of the national revenue. It is reassuring that positive steps and sincerity of purpose are beginning to have the impact of calming frayed nerves.

I must therefore, commend His Excellency, the President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar 'Adua, GCFR, for taking serious steps and displaying strong commitment to providing an acceptable solution to the crisis in the region. I am pleased that consultations are on-going, signalling great hope and the unequivocal commitment of the President to pointing the way forward towards resolving the crisis once and for all.

My beloved people, we have mapped out our plans to impact meaningfully and positively on our State and its people through the pursuit of peace and security, human capital and infrastructural development. We are determined to see to the completion of all on-going projects on roads, schools, hospitals, electrification, water schemes and stadia among others, which dot several areas in the State. Towards this end, I urge all contractors to go back to site as we are determined to ensure that our concerted efforts to increase the tempo of sustainable development are not impeded.

I wish to use the unique occasion of our independence to call on all Deltans, both at home and abroad, to begin to sing new inspirational songs, devoid of bitterness, rancour, lack of faith and trust, disloyalty, rumour peddling, sectionalism, divisiveness and above all, incitement. These are evils that will do us no good, stall development of our State and mortgage the well being of our children and those yet unborn. These negative traits were the major recipes for past chaos and instability.

Fellow Deltans, the path of progress we seek requires that we must, as a people, make some sacrifice. In addition, we must appreciate that Government has its limitations and there is no way it can do everything alone. We should all join hands - the private sector, individuals, communities and everyone else - to take the State to greater heights of prosperity. We hope to explore to the fullest, all available sources of internal revenue generation, which are open to the State. We also want to encourage public private partnership ventures in the execution of core and critical capital projects, especially in the areas of power, agriculture and tourism.

Let me stress that representative democracy can only be meaningful to our people when it guarantees peace, security and prosperity. As a people, Deltans must recognize the need to direct our efforts towards providing a conducive environment for economic growth and the survival of democracy in the State and the nation. In particular, I wish to use the occasion of the 47th anniversary of our Independence to admonish our people, especially politicians, to guard against actions and utterances that needlessly divide the State and heat up the polity.

Beloved Deltans, we should continue to ensure security of life and property all over the State. Everything should be done to deepen political discourse and make politics issue-based. We should endeavour to continue to eliminate violence and indiscipline, expand opportunities for participation for our women, build bridges of understanding and cooperation, thereby promoting the values of tolerance and accommodation.

My dear brothers and sisters, our State is no doubt richly endowed with both material and human resources. As a Government, we are determined to tap these resources for our development. But the availability of natural resources in itself is not enough to spur economic growth. We also realise that Government alone cannot create all the jobs. Therefore, I implore all Deltans to explore the abundant opportunities in agriculture and the industrial sector to grow our State economy.

I sincerely appreciate the wonderful support and cooperation Deltans have extended to this administration. By the grace of God, we shall deliver on our promises. Once again, I commend our predecessor and leader, Chief James Onanefe Ibori, for creating the necessary foundation for us to build upon.

My dear people of Delta State, I salute the founding fathers of this great State and beloved Country for their untiring efforts and foresight. I promise that with your co-operation and our collective sense of responsibility, we shall build a better society.

Once more, I congratulate and felicitate with all Deltans on this occasion of the 47th Independence celebration.

Thank you and God bless us all.

Office of the Governor,
Government House,
Asaba.

October, 2007.

Beloved Deltans,