DCM SPEECHES

Chargé d' Affaires Thomas P. Furey

Remarks

Toast: Dinner for California National Guard/State Partnership Program

Friday, June 23, 2006 - 9:00 a.m.
Abuja

 

Distinguished Guests:

Your presence here tonight is proof of the strong ties between the Nigerian and American armed forces.

Over the years, many Nigerian officers have attended professional courses in the US and, many American soldiers have traveled to Nigeria to provide training and advice.

The American military has also had the opportunity to learn from Nigeria, especially about your valuable experiences in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and now in Darfur.

With the institution of the State Partnership with the California National Guard, we hope that this relationship will become stronger yet, and that interaction--and understanding--between our militaries will become routine.

The California National Guard brings to Nigeria a great deal of experience. As a state partner with Ukraine since 1993, it has a great deal of practice in providing advice on restructuring and modernizing armed forces, and, on strengthening the principles of democracy.

Nigeria's upcoming elections will mark the first time in its history when one elected leader will turn over power to another elected, civilian leader.

And so it will be important for the military--at the direction of your civilian leadership-- to provide the secure environment necessary for free and fair elections to take place.

The challenge to the military, as in any young democracy, will be to remain distant from the political process, ensuring respect for human rights and rule of law.

The California National Guard has the experience of working in just this kind of environment and, hopefully, their sharing of these experiences will be just one of the many benefits this new partnership brings to both of our nations.

Now, there is an African proverb that goes: "There is more wisdom in listening than in speaking." So then, I'll stop speaking now so that I can learn from all of you and, so that you can each have the opportunity to begin building friendships and to start learning from each others experiences.

 

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