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Governor
Chimaroke Nnamani has charged in his 2007 New Year message to Nigerians
that the dawning year was a special one in which so many actions
geared at sustaining the democratic culture already in place had to be
firmed
up with prayers and on deep instrospection, tolerance and disposition
to general goodwill.
According to him, "it is very important that Nigerians appreciate that
2007 is as important as 1999 when governance had to transit from the
military to civil democracy. It is the year in which we shall see the
impact of reforms of the various governments on the people, especially
how they will apply the values of reform of government putting in place
the next regime of political leadership".
Expressing immense gratitude to the people of Enugu State whom he said
had shown commendable responses to his leadership in the last seven
and half years, Governor Nnamani affirmed that the physical transformation
of the State as undertaken by his administration, had achieved what
its aim of placing the physical environment on conditions of functionality
so that the people would be armed to fit into an emerging global environment.
Reiterating hhis earlier position that democracy remained the best
option for Nigerians to be availed of the best possible options of
leadership and development, Governor Nnamani rejoiced that "rather
than continue on selective advantages as previously conferred on
only the elites of the society, democracy has led to a great expansion
of
the values such that telephone is no longer a status symbol for the
very rich; tokunboh cars, refrigerators and other electrical/electronic
gadgets, are no more the lot of the struggling population; and the
chances of every child attending good schools are expanding by the
day".
In the specific case of Enugu State, Governor Nnamani said, "some people
hardly understood the reason for the enormity of projects we undertook,
or the necessity for speed and clinical finish, until they appreciate
the trend of globalization in which only the fully armed and competitive
society would evolve groups and individuals with the necessary edges
to gain a foothold. We had to move our people from the backwaters by
providing such things that would make them gain knowledge of the outside
world. We had to built the best university on a virgin land; we had
to add the best-fit teaching hospital and medical school to provide
highly competitive professional medical class. We had to erect the
first ever computerized court room complex to put out judicial system
up to the standard; we had to build the best international conference
centre to achieve a high level tourism destination for Enugu State".
He therefore urged Nigerians to appreciate that as their lives had
tremendously improved, with greater prospects in the continuity of
democracy, better days were ahead and they should approach with the
caution and restraint of accustomed peoples.
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