Nigeria’s leaders have issued congratulatory messages on the festive day of the country’s 54th Independence anniversary.

According to the report, among the inspired speakers there were Senate President David Mark, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of the House of Representatives, ex Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola and others.

Mark expressed optimism over the country’s future saying that Nigeria is meant for greatness and would overcome all the troubles. He stressed the importance on unity in the process of building up the Nigeria of our dreams.

“We may not have been where we want to be but we have made appreciable progress and we can do more. All we need to do is to strengthen our unity as one people with one mission and purpose. The stable democracy has offered us opportunity to harness our abundant resources for good.

“Nigeria has passed through many challenges in the past and we came out of it. The security challenges; this Boko Haram can be defeated if we unite to fight them. I believe the Boko Haram terrorism or insurgency is alien to us as a people. We have the capacity to defeat them and confine them to the dustbin of history.”

According to him, it is not possible to solve problems with arms as eventually people might turn against their “brothers, sisters and nation”.

“We must, therefore, continue to shun individuals or groups that encourage, preach and practice division among our people. We must shun every harbinger of hate and bond together as a people of common interest and destiny. As legislators we will continue to do our part to wit; provide the needed legislative framework for the Executive Arm of Government to continue to deliver the dividends of democracy to our people.”

In the statement released in Abuja Tambuwal spoke about the importance for Nigerians to work hard to promote democracy and good governance. The official also urged political elite to be mindful regarding Nigeria’s future and and begged politicians not heat the situation ahead the 2015 elections. Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who last week officially declared his interest to run for presidency in the upcoming elections, lamented over the gap between the political leaders and the people, even after the 54 years of independence.

In his message Atiku insisted that many Nigerians were uncertain about how the quality of their life had changed within the period of democratic governance, aimed at establishing and strengthening the people’s involvement in the political process.

The ex Vice President identified the increasing level of youth unemployment as one of Nigeria’s major problems causing violence.

Atiku criticized politicians for playing up the ethnic and religious differences for personal advantages, adding that such attitude is dangerous as it can result in country division.

In the end of his message, Atiku said that Nigerians should not lose hope and chose the right leaders to make the country prosper.

Fashola on his part called for unity and peaceful co-existence, which according to him are the major cores of nation prosperity. He also stressed the importance of the rule of law in building up the stable democratic Nigeria.

Lagos governor thanked God for preserving the nation despite the numerous challenges that have been rocking the country in the recent years.