Read full text of Buhari’s 2021 Christmas message to Nigerians

<p><strong>PRESIDENT BUHARI’S 2021 CHRISTMAS MESSAGE<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>I rejoice with Christians in Nigeria as they join fellow believers all over the world to celebrate this season&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>It is a special period that brings peoples of the world together with one purpose&semi; to celebrate togetherness&comma; joy&comma; peace&comma; and above all&comma; to share love with one another through exchange of goodwill and gifts&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>For the second Christmas running&comma; the world will not be able to celebrate as we used to in years past&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>The COVID-19 pandemic&comma; with its attendant debilitating impact&comma; has remained with mankind&comma; mutating and leaving in its wake devastating consequences on the economy&comma; social interaction&comma; and curtailing certain freedoms&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>The silver lining&comma; however&comma; is that humanity has been able to rise up with one voice and purpose&comma; to confront the foisted conditions&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>I want to use this opportunity to appeal to our dear citizens to embrace vaccination&comma; which is the best scientifically known bulwark against the pandemic&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>Recent events have shown that vaccination greatly reduces the effects of the virus on the human body&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>I will also urge those that have taken the two doses to go ahead and take the booster as advised by the Presidential Steering Committee &lpar;PSC&rpar;&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>I commend the efforts of members of the PSC under the headship of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation as they continue to chart a roadmap out of the pandemic and associated issues&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>On security&comma; despite the remarkable successes generally recorded&comma; we still have some challenges&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>Our courageous security forces&comma; bolstered by the necessary support from this administration&comma; daily confront the wicked ones amongst us&comma; who continue to threaten the peace of the land&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>Recently&comma; during the meeting with fellow Heads of State of the ECOWAS&comma; I discussed the need to intensify efforts to jointly confront this menace causing instability in our sub-region&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>I am confident that with the renewed commitment and empowerment of our committed security personnel&comma; all these issues which inflict pain and trauma on us will soon be history&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>Let us utilize the opportunity that this festive period brings to encourage ourselves so that the machinations of the wicked ones in our midst will find no place to thrive&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>Christmas is a season when hope is rekindled&period; Hope&comma; Peace&comma; Joy&comma; Love are the recurring themes of this time&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>It is in the midst of hardship that the true test of a nation emerges&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>I urge Nigerians to invoke the indomitable spirit in us and see the present order of things as a phase that will also pass&comma; just like other unsavory situations in the nation’s history&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>This government will not abandon the promises made to Nigerians for a better lease of life&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>The diversification of the economy embarked upon is yielding fruits&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>We shall continue to create opportunities for our teeming youths to ventilate their tremendous energy&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>As we felicitate with family&comma; friends&comma; colleagues&comma; associates&comma; let us spare moments to reach out to the less privileged&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>Let us also pray and give words of encouragement to our gallant security personnel fulfilling their oaths to keep us safe&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>I assure my compatriots that this administration remains resolute at ensuring that the standard of living of the average Nigerian is elevated&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>On this note&comma; I wish Nigerians Merry Christmas&excl;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>Muhammadu Buhari<&sol;strong><br &sol;>&NewLine;<strong>December 24&comma; 2021<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;