My delight today at this award is dimmed and my happiness restrained because of the State of Security in our nation. Thirty -one days after the crude abduction of innocent school girls, this government is yet to provide satisfactory answers or even produce the girls. What began as a local insurgency problem now festers because those chosen to protect us sleep constantly at the switch.
The radar of the international community is now turned on Nigeria and an unprecedented international campaign is afoot to rescue the Chibok girls.
Fortunately, through this campaign, Nigeria may also be rescued from an inept, clueless and insensitive government.
Today, it is to these over 200 Girls that I wish to dedicate my Man of Substance award.
They are our children, they are today the conscience of the nation. They represent what should be our national spirit. They are our heroines.
Young at heart and innocent, they displayed courage in the face of great danger to prepare and sit for their WAEC examination.
Because of their thirst for knowledge and hope for a better future, they braved the odds to write an exam that will guarantee that future.
But they were not protected by those whose duty it is to protect them .
Even after being abducted, the government initially showed little pity for them or the will to pursue their abductors.
It took over two weeks before the Jonathan administration grudgingly accepted that indeed a mass abduction of the teenage girls had taken place, within a corner of Nigeria, part of the territory President Jonathan had sworn to protect from violation from both internal and external aggressors.
It took this long time for the central government to accept the stark reality that the massive and nationally embarrassing abduction had not been stage-managed by the Government of Borno state to smear the presidency.
“What a country”!, to borrow the title of a famous book written by one of your distinguished editors, Kunle Ajibade.
We must all join in the campaign to find them and bring them back home safe. As tough and difficult as it may be, It is possible.
Our present government owes us this. It must employ every resource and muscle, all security personnel within its power, to bring back our girls.
My heart goes to the parents, families and relatives of these 223 girls in the captivity of the murderous Boko Haram insurgents.
I charge you all to keep them in your minds at all times, until they are set free.
Humanity is the same world over.
Though tribe and tongue may differ, we Nigerians must stand united in brotherhood against terrorism,kidnappings and ineptitude in Government.
I must never forget to thank the leadership and entire membership of the National Association of Women journalists , NAWOJ for this great honour done me.
I see the award as your appreciation of my humble contributions to the political and economic development of our country.
Since my involvement in politics more than two decades ago, I have made as my lifetime pursuit , the creation of a Nigeria free from political and economic oppression, a country where the rule of law prevails and one in which our youths will have the opportunity to excel. Our party, the All Progressives Congress shares in this set goal.
We just cannot continue to run our country the way the Peoples Democratic Party has been running it the last 15 years. And we have all been witnesses of their mismanagement: government not being able to perform the most elementary of state functions: securing the lives and properties of our people.
Our party will surely make our country work again post-May 2015.
Our party,the APC represents a paradigm shift that our country badly needs, the change we all need, the change we must have.
We promise to offer responsible and responsive leadership. We shall offer a fresh pathway to redeem our country , after 15 years of clueless and visionless governance by the ruling party.
I urge you as journalists, men and women, to continue to play your role of watchdogs, those that never sleep, and those that bark to expose corruption, abuse of power and mis-governance. You must set an agenda for good governance in your reportage and seek to promote the greater good for the greater majority of our people.
Once again, I thank you for this award and urge all men and women of substance to rise and work to bring our country back to the path of rectitude.
Asiwaju Tinubu
