He further described Nigeria as “a country of over 200 million people, whose natural talents, grits and passion glitter like the precious diamond we are.
“This to me, is a sufficient appreciation to our most precious assets; our people. Everywhere you go, Nigerians are sparkling like diamonds in the pack, whether in academia, business, Innovation, music, movie, entertainment and culture.”
President Buhari, who spoke today, September 16, at the unveiling of the 60th Independence Anniversary Logo at the presidential villa, Abuja, said that the selected option of the logo, which depicts togetherness, also has a neatly encrusted diamond on the Nigerian map which “symbolises our age of treasure, the worth of the Nigerian people, who are sparkle to the admiration of the world.
“In the same vein, the fair green and the dark green colours should respectively remind us of our warmth, welcoming spirit and love, as well as abundant wealth inherent in our human capital and the richness of our land.
“All these properties made us, unarguably, the most prosperous black nation in the world and Africa’s largest economy. It is therefore with a deep feeling of national pride and I hereby announce to you that “Together shall we be” shall the theme of our nation’s 60th anniversary celebration.
“Our founding fathers, in spite of differences in faith, tribe and tongue, came together to fight for Nigeria’s independence. This shall be a befitting tribute to the struggle of our heroes past.
“It is to the glory of God and in celebration of the attainment of the diamond age of 60 by our great nation that I hereby unveil the preferred anniversary logo for this momentous occasion in our national history.”
The President thanked members of the inter-ministerial committee on Nigeria’s 60th anniversary celebration for the work they have done so far and remind them that this is just the beginning. “As we celebrate this anniversary, this government will work towards greater inclusiveness and look forward to the participation of all Nigerians.”
Speaking at the occasion, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, who chaire the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Nigeria’s 60th Anniversary celebration, recalled presidential directive for a low-key celebration that will be highly inclusive.
He said that one major agreement was the need to deviate from the norm of celebrating our landmark events with a conclusion of the day of such event.
“Thus it was agreed that to make the diamond anniversary very inclusive and create opportunities for internalisation and buying by all sectors of Nigerian people, a year-long celebration will be pursued, starting from the date of launching a web portal, to September 30th, 2021.”
Boss Mustapha said that the unveiling of the logo marked the official takeoff of Nigeria’s 60th anniversary celebration.
He said that the inter-ministerial committee had a robust discussion and argument on the theme and finally settled on the one that recognises our sojourn in nationhood, identified challenges faced all through and what is required to move Nigeria to its enviable stage among the comity of nations.
“To arrive at a logo, the inter-ministerial committee had to review 15 different possibilities designed by a patriotic group of Nigerian firms, to whom we have expressed our appreciation for their efforts. Out of these 15 logos, the inter-ministerial committee chose the best four that were then subjected to a diamond, structure.”
