The Jonathan administration has no intention of reducing the scale of scheduled celebrations to mark 100 years of Nigeria’s nationhood. The indication emerged this night as President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan made a national broadcast on the country’s centenary.

Nigeria has been in a mournful mood since news broke yesterday of an overnight dastardly terrorist attack on the Federal Government College (FGC) Buni Yadi, Yobe State, by Boko Haram members in which about 60 innocent students died. Some grieving Nigerians have even suggested that the centenary celebration be scaled down or outrightly cancelled, but Jonathan thinks otherwise.

In the colourless broadcast of about 15 minutes broadcast on radio and TV, the President cited the Yobe tragedy as one of the challenges the nation must overcome as it begins the journey into its second centenary. He said that “while the occasion of our centenary calls for celebration, it is also a moment to pause for sober reflection” but assured Nigerians that “terrorism in any part of our nation is barbaric and unacceptable,”

Jonathan assured that his administration would do everything humanly possible to safeguard the nation and the lives of Nigerians. He also ruled out Nigeria’s separation, declaring that “our amalgamation was not a mistake” and assuring that Nigeria would overcome its ‘transient’ challenges “and take our place as one of the greatest nations of the earth.”

The Nigerian leader described the country as a nation still in infancy, saying: “We are a nation of the future, not the past.”

He called for the empowerment of the youth, saying: “Let us rededicate ourselves to empower the youth to achieve our collective vision of greatness.”

The centenary celebration will climax this Friday, February 28, with an elaborate ceremony at the Banquet Hall, State House, Abuja, at which Jonathan will present awards to 100 centenary heroes, some of them posthumously.

•Photo shows President Jonathan.

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