It gives me great pleasure to join others in welcoming you to this important occasion. We are here today not only to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Nigerian Newsworld Magazine and the first anniversary of the Nigerian Pilot Newspaper, but also to deliberate on what is generally referred to as “the Nigerian condition." 
Permit me to congratulate the publisher, management and staff of the two publications on their landmark anniversaries, and to wish them more years of outstanding service to journalism and the Nigerian nation. 
It is commendable these anniversaries have been elevated to an occasion for soul-searching about the past, the present and the future of our dear country. This serious and solution-oriented approach aligns with the spirit of best-practice journalism which, at its core, is an enterprise committed to the betterment of society. It also invokes, in a good way, the memory of some watershed moments in our country’s history. We may recall how the media led the campaigns against colonial and military rules in Nigeria. We may also remember that there was once a newspaper called the West African Pilot, founded in 1937 by the Great Zik of Africa and deployed as an instrument for national emancipation. It is my prayer that the Nigerian Pilot and its sister publication(s) will continue to rise up to the occasion and be as impactful as their illustrious predecessors and from a self-acclaimed “newspaper of conscience” to a newspaper that is critically regarded for “showing the light" for “the people-to-follow” I congratulate our brother, Mr. Dennis Sami for taking this wonderful initiative and following the hallowed, journalistic/political footsteps of some of our illustrious founding fathers. 
Permit me to also commend the organisers of the event for the thought and effort they have invested in putting this together. The theme of today’s event is: “Advancing Nigeria’s Transformation in the 21st century.” At a time like this, it is difficult to think of a more apt theme. Equally thoughtful is the choice of topics and resource persons. It is my fervent hope that we will leave here today better informed about the challenges facing our country and strategies for overcoming these challenges. 
Permit me to exercise the chairman’s prerogative to frame today’s discussion against two major backdrops. The first is obvious, and that is President Goodluck Jonathan’s transformation Agenda. During the campaigns, the president unveiled an ambitious programme for the transformation of this country and has since set to work to actualise this ‘laudable agenda. Later today, our guest-lecturers will critically examine the role of leadership, national security and economic growth in national development transformation. As we listen to and interact with these speakers, I invite us to note that the Transformation Agenda is not for the president and his team alone. It is for all of us. We all stand to gain if Nigeria is truly transformed. And we all have a role to play. Now that the elections are over, we all have a patriotic duty to rally behind the president’s vision, not necessarily because of the president, but because of ourselves and our country. 
The second major backdrop is that this interaction is taking place a few days after we lost one of our great leaders, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, a giant among men, a dogged fighter for equity, a great patriot. May the Almighty rest his soul and comfort his immediate and extended family. The Ikemba was one of the founding fathers of our country, even if he belonged to the second generation. The question we should be asking ourselves today is: was he happy about the Nigerian condition at his passing? And by extension, would our founding fathers (and mothers) be happy about what we have made of our inheritance? Is today’s Nigeria the Nigeria of their dreams, the one they fought, suffered and died for? The obvious answer is No. 
But we need to go beyond simply answering the question. That is too easy and too obvious. We need to start doing the difficult part: thinking through our challenges,   proffering practical solutions, putting aside the pettiness of politics and differences, and rolling up our sleeves to work together as one people, one family, and one country bounded together by one destiny. 
On this note, I want to commend the organisers again for providing this platform. I look forward to fruitful and engaging deliberations. I thank you all for listening.

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