We have established a new basis in our country in which economic liberalization would continue to flourish alongside democratic forces and deregulated power structure.

The reason is that till date, in spite of advances in information technology and strategies of information, the written word in the form of books still remains one of humanity's most enduring legacies.

I am not sure that you, the younger generations, will like to go to war that we went through. So, we learn as the mistakes are being committed.

It is only through books that we partake of the great harvest that is human civilization across the ages.

The challenge as we saw in the Nigerian project was to restructure the economy decisively in the direction of a modern free market as an appropriate environment for cultivation of freedom and democracy and the natural emergence of a new social order.

The work of Nigeria is not complete for as long as there is any one Nigerian who goes to bed on empty stomach.

Even now, we make no apologies for the choice we made. The sacrifices we made were selfless. The options we offered were patriotic while the paths we chose were well thought out.