Vanguard
1 November 2008
The former Minister of State for Information and Communications, Mr Ibrahim Nakande, has described the recent dropping of 20 ministers by President Umaru yar'Adua as "a political battle that was lost and won.'"
President Umaru Yar'Adua had on Wednesday relieved the 20 ministers of their appointment, including Nakande, a member of the ANPP.
Speaking on Thursday in Abuja at a send-forth dinner for the 2008 retirees of the Ministry of Information and Communications, the former minister said he was leaving public office a better person.
He thanked the ministry officials for their support during the 18 months he spent in the ministry as a minister.
" A lot of people have been coming to the office to tell me sorry and I tell them don't say so, you should be congratulating us because we are leaving peacefully.
"As a politician, I know that we are always in a state of war, maybe I lost one battle yesterday but the war is still on, we have not lost the war.
" We will continue the war and the fight, and by God's grace the victory will be ours by the end of the day," he said.
On the retirees, the former minister said he considered himself as one of them because he had also paid his "dues" to the nation.
" Those of us in the communications sector know that I am not an engineer but I know a lot and I know all the fundamentals of ICT.
" I have learnt a lot and I have interacted very well with the people and I feel very proud that I can come back to this ministry to any of the parastatals in the ministry with my head held high.
" I am not the same person that came in here about one year and half ago, I am leaving here more educated, more enriched and more exposed, he said.
In his speech, the Minister of Information and Comunications, Mr John Odey, congratulated the retirees for serving the nation well and wished them the best in their future endeavours.
" Those of you who are leaving us will still be working for us from the within, you have left as full time staff but you will remain as part-time," he said.
The Minister stressed the need for the ministry staff to see each other as one big united family, working together for the growth of the nation.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mrs Timiebi Koripamo-Agary, a former Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, was among the retirees who were sent-forth.
Agary called on civil servants to give priority to the welfare needs of each other. (NAN)
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