HE PRESIDENT MAJOR GENERAL (RET'D) JIOJI KONUSI KONROTE'S ADDRESS AT THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF INDEPENDENCE COMMEMORATIVE MEDAL INVESTITURE CEREMONY

• The Commander of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces, Rear Admiral Viliame Naupoto;
• Brigadier-General Mohammed Aziz – The Deputy Commander RFMF;
• Captain (N) John Fox – RFMF Chief of Staff;
• Colonel Manoa Gadai, Commander Land Force;
• Commander Vosawale – Commander RFMF Naval Division;
• The Chaplain of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces, Reverend Ilaitia Tuwere;
• Recipients of Fiji’s 50th Anniversary of Independence Commemorative Medal, and Members of your Respective Families and Friends;
• Distinguished guests;
• Ladies and gentlemen.

Ni sa Bula Vinaka, Namaste, Asalaamu Alaykum, Ni Hao, Noa’ia ‘e Mauri, and A very good afternoon to you all.   Ladies and gentlemen, at the outset, please allow me to acknowledge and commend the good Reverend Tuwere for his short prayer and Divine/Spiritual presentation.

As your President, and Chancellor of The Order of Fiji, I am extremely pleased, equally honoured and very thankful indeed that we are able to come together again this afternoon after a month long National Celebrations to honour the Members of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces (both Regular Force and Reserves) with the Investiture and Presentation of Fiji’s 50th Independence Anniversary Medal.

Personally, as your Commander-in-Chief, it gives me such great pleasure to greet you all this afternoon as we convene at Queen Elizabeth Barrack and to confer you with this historical commemoration 50th Independence Medal. I look forward to meeting some of you whom I have not seen for many years – after the Parade. 

As your President, and Chancellor of the Order of Fiji, I am extremely pleased too indeed that I will be personally conferring the Awards to some of you – particularly for those of you whom we served together here at home and in The Middle East during RFMF’s initial deployments into some of the world’s most volatile and dangerous conflict zones. 

We did stamp our mark and reputation as good Soldiers and Peacekeepers so I urge the present generation of servicemen/women to honour, uphold and if can – improve upon this proud and enviable reputation and legacy of The Republic of Fiji Military Force (RFMF). 

At this juncture I would like to offer my congratulations once again for the splendid and spectacular parade to mark the occasion on Fiji Day last month and the 100 men guard this morning. Well done, for I am certain that you have made Commander Naupoto, The Command and Administration Echelons of the RFMF and your Families, Relatives and Friends equally proud too.  

As the final guarantor of Peace and Security and the maintenance of Law and Order within our beloved nation, I would like to congratulate you The Recipients of the award, - commend and thank All Ranks also for the manner in which you and your predecessors – (some of whom had received their awards over the past weeks) had remained resolute and steadfast in supporting our Government and our People to this historical and important milestone since Independence in our history as an Independent Sovereign State.  

As a young and developing nation we have had our fair share of challenges over the years since Independence, but with Almighty God’s love and blessings we have ‘weathered the storms’ to date and as members of the Discipline Forces we must maintain the trust and confidence of our People at all times and as your President and Commander-in-Chief I charge you with this responsibility.

Ladies and gentlemen, nominations are still being vetted to this day, and The College Team had been very particular and diligent in their work to ensure that this special and historic commemorative Medal is presented to deserving members of the Public/Private Sectors and Civil Society and this, Ladies and gentlemen is in conformity with my wish to further nurture and promote my Institution’s and hopefully our National psyche and “Culture of Appreciation and Inclusivity”.  

As I had reminded the recipients, families and friends last month, that on the 1st of October, 2020, I travelled with my Staff accompanied by the Commander of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces and the Acting Commissioner of the Fiji Police and some Senior Government Officials to Levuka with two aims in mind – Firstly, to begin our journey of celebrations where it all began about 156 years ago with the Signing of The Deed of Cession in NASOVA between the Chiefs of Fiji and the Representative of The British Crown and secondly, to reassure the Chiefs and people of Levuka  of Government’s and in line with my primary responsibility as President – and the “Pillar of National Unity,” that during this period of National Celebrations of commemorating  our 50 years of Independence, – “No One and Community Should be Left Behind”.

Last week, I returned to Levuka with the same team to properly conclude our month-long National formal celebrations and it would be remiss of me if I do not acknowledge and personally thank the Commander of RFMF for his continuous presence in the Investiture Ceremonies at the State House and also for accompanying me and my team back to Levuka. Vinaka Vakalevu!

Ladies and gentlemen, as you can understand that, inevitably, the present COVID-19 Pandemic has had a profound effect on our National Plan to commemorate and celebrate this important milestone in Fiji’s young history, resulting in a somewhat scaled down overall national celebrations programme. But this did not dampen our “Fijian Can Do” spirit nor did it affect the manner in which we celebrated the occasion for within a period of half a century since Independence, our young and developing nation has evolved into an acceptable level of universal socio-political and economical maturity that we should all be proud about in today’s unpredictable and uncertain global environment that we live in.

Furthermore, with our typically famous Fijian friendly, positive and ‘Can Do’ attitude to life, Ladies and gentlemen, we are proclaiming to our citizens and our wider global community and the Fijian diaspora that, “This Is Who We Are – We - Are - Fiji”! – A Small and Developing Independent Sovereign State which despite The COVID-19 Pandemic is determined to celebrate a worthy cause and is continuing to “Punch Above Its Weight” in leading the world community by passionately addressing some global problematic issues like today’s, - Present, Real and Serious Threat to the survival of Humanity – Climate Change and the Preservation and Protection of our Oceans.

Ladies and gentlemen, it is my humble opinion that despite the “New Norm” which has been unfortunately, imposed upon humanity by the world-wide COVID-19 Pandemic, we can still rejoice and celebrate certain events in life – like last month’s 50th Anniversary Independence National Celebrations and today’s medal parade by being positive and firm in our faith in The Almighty that our beloved Fiji is blessed and as a Nation and People, we should be forever grateful, hope and embrace the Future Together and Believe that the next 50 years and beyond – the journey ahead would be Peaceful and equally Prosperous.  

50 years is indeed a long time in one’s life and we have come a long way as a Country and People since Independence to claim our rightful place in our global community as a responsible and respectable developing Independent Sovereign State which is proud of its achievements and contributions regionally and internationally. 

Ladies and gentlemen, 25 years ago on Independence Day, 755 deserving individuals were awarded a similar commemorative medal and we look forward to celebrating our Diamond Jubilee of Independence in style too.  I still wear mine with great pride and hope that those of you who will be honoured with this 50th Anniversary Medal today will also share with me the same proud and patriotic feeling that we belong to a nation which cares for its people and rewards them accordingly for their individual and collective efforts at nation-building.

Ladies and gentlemen in conclusion in celebrating Fiji’s 50th Anniversary of Independence, we have shown the World Community that we are; A Resilient People, A Strong People, A Caring People, A United People who are collectively confident that with Almighty God’s continued guidance and blessings, Fiji is destined to achieve more great things in the next 50 years.

On that note Ladies and gentlemen, Congratulations once again to all the Recipients today!

May Almighty God Bless Us all and Bless our beloved Fiji!

Vinaka Vakalevu, Dhanyavaad, Xiexie, Faiak’sea, Thank you All.