The 7th of July 2008 will mark thirty years since our beloved Solomon Islands gained nationhood.

As I reflecting back on the our journey in the last 30 years, I was compelled to thank our founding fathers who have guided us in attaining this great achievement, 'nationhood'. However, my emotion does not last long, as it was swept away by my recollection of the recent events that taint our journey as a country and also has inflicted loses of life and caused alot of pain to our own people because of the self interest of only a small number of people. This reflections has made me sad and for a moment I wonder how we would progress on as a nation when our leaders are not showing signs of taking national responsiblities seriously. Our people are continuously being used for political gains and little was done to effectively serve them with tangible development and services that they needed most.

As we celebrate the 30th independence anniversary of our nation, let us look back at what we have achieved and what we have failed to achieve and make amendments in our lives as leaders and individual citizens of Solomon Islands in order to contribute positively to the developments and growth of our nation.

Our leaders must be agents of positive change and be the catalyst that will bring about viable developments and services to our people. They must put their self interest aside and work for a common good for all Solomon Islanders.

Let us learn from our past experiences and work together to build a better and prosperous Solomon Islands for our future generations.

God Bless Our Solomon Islands.