The National Federation Party believes now is the time to re-dedicate our­selves to One Nation, One Des­tiny just as Fiji did 48 years ago.

This was the NFP’s Fiji Day message yesterday.

Party leader Biman Prasad and president Pio Tikoduadua said: “As we celebrated our In­dependence, all the people must reflect on what kind of Fiji they want to bequeath to future gen­erations.

“We must never forget the gi­ant strides made by our coun­try’s founding fathers and to hold true to the spirit of unity and understanding of our In­dependence because freedom, hope and glory is still ours if we grasp it,” they said.

“We should in the spirit of unity and harmony through genuine talanoa, so ably dem­onstrated by our founding fa­thers, bequeath to our future generation a nation of bound­less hopes, endless dreams and aspirations.

“And above all a Fiji that once again becomes a symbol of gen­uinely united, harmonious peo­ple and a beacon of hope.

“We must keep reminding our­selves, by appraising ourselves with history as well as inculcat­ing it in our generation through school curriculums, how Fiji achieved Independence on a silver platter through the sheer painstaking work and negotia­tion of a few leaders regarded as the finest statesmen that Fiji ever had.

“We must not forget it was achieved through goodwill, con­sensus, dialogue and a genuine willingness on the part of the then leaders realised their vi­sion. It was not based on threats, fear mongering and extortion.

“We pay tribute to the found­ing fathers of Fiji, hailing them as gigantic leaders who put na­tional interest above everything else to negotiate Fiji’s Inde­pendence 48 years ago,” said Mr Prasad and Mr Tikoduadua.

Edited by Percy Kean

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