Epeli Ganilau quotes

As a people, we have not been able to chart a clear map toward a common destiny. We will not be able to do this if our leaders continue to promote sectional and separate development. (Epeli Ganilau)
We cannot afford to ignore HIV/AIDS. We can only ignore this battle at the cost of being regarded by future generations of Pacific Islanders as lacking the will, the foresight, the understanding to tackle this issue, which threatens our very future.
Epeli Ganilau
For our people to have lived together for one and a quarter century it is difficult to believe that at a personal level so little cultural transfers have taken place.
Epeli Ganilau
All of us are mere mortals and must consult. The spectacle of Parliament and the antics of our politicians serve only to distract us from the very real problems that we face as a nation.
Epeli Ganilau
We pay lip service to multiracialism but we fail to put it into practice because we continue to see most things and ourselves from our own ethnic perspective. So long as the personal attitude persists, we will not see us one people of Fiji and our future will not be secure.
Epeli Ganilau
If we learn how to love others, really, truly love them, not for who we want them to be, but rather for who they are – for the perfect souls that God has created – then we have learnt one of the greatest lessons of life.
Epeli Ganilau
It (2006) will be the year of rebuilding and reclaiming the lost confidence, the lost spirit and the lost soul of our beloved country.
Epeli Ganilau
How often have we seen the bigotry of the religious fanaticisms and intolerance that have occurred in Fiji?
Epeli Ganilau
In any case paramount traditional heads of provinces should, in my view, welcome the fact that their people who have had education and experience can relieve them as in the traditional line of delegation from the many functions the chiefs are required to do now, particularly if they are public servants or have not had the background of education and service as their people.
Epeli Ganilau
Touted as a legislation that will promote unity, it has done exactly the opposite. It has divided this country, apparently and sadly along racial lines. (on the government's controversial Reconciliation, Tolerance, and Unity Bill, which Ganilau opposes).
Epeli Ganilau
No nation would refuse to fight an invading army because some expert argued it would be cheaper to invest in defenses against future invasions. It is not a matter of prioritising lives now over lives tomorrow. (Epeli Ganilau)
Whether some people like it or not, Fiji is already a multiracial society. We have different races, but that does not mean we should only work for the good of our own race. We have to truly understand one another, learn each other's languages, and truly work together. There is huge potential in Fiji, and we would be amazed to see what we will achieve, if we work together.
Epeli Ganilau
This is what the National Alliance stands for: To respect all people, regardless of ethnicity, gender and religion, to uphold godly principles and moral values and to respect the rule of law.
Epeli Ganilau
For too long, we have allowed fear to dictate our politics and suspicions, to shape how we perceive other communities.
Epeli Ganilau
The danger ... is that unscrupulous politicians have continued to preach their racially divided visions for Fiji.
Epeli Ganilau
As a country, we have not started to see how much we can achieve as a nation and we will not have any idea of our strength if we continue to deny ourselves the opportunity to come together as one people. We have not been able to pool the resources and talent of our people and exploit them for our common good. It will continue to evade us if we continue to stress our ethnicity and group differences.
Epeli Ganilau
As a loving religious and caring nation the spiritual dimension of our resolve is to exercise restraint, goodwill, tolerance and understanding with all races in Fiji.
Epeli Ganilau
I believe we must not fight fire with fire, we will be burnt. The only way in which we can stop these extremist elements from destroying the nation is by ensuring that they are not given an opportunity to be in a position of controlling the destiny of the nation.
Epeli Ganilau
If this is neglected, any effort at development will fail, because factions will emerge with their own form of protest that would drive underground anyone seeking help. This will endanger whatever development has taken place.
Epeli Ganilau
Government seems unaware that the more race-based measures it tries to put in place the faster that time bomb burns to detonation point.
Epeli Ganilau
Race is a fact of life and is not a problem unless people make it out to be so. (Epeli Ganilau)
One (path) is confrontation and the politics of exclusion. The other is the path of cooperation and trust. We either embrace the concept of multiracialism or we go down the path of racial vilification and alienation.
Epeli Ganilau
To share responsibility with the people of the province should be, in my view, the proudest bequest of a chief to his people.
Epeli Ganilau
There are daily acts of violence to the general public and in all levels of government we have witnessed corrupt practices of bribery, extortion, misuse of public funds, abuse of office and all the pervasive singling out of one race. But in reality, to use it as an excuse so that a select few will benefit in wealth and position.
Epeli Ganilau
I am making a very personal commitment myself. This is a war I am not accustomed to but it is a global war and we are in a global army, fighting against a global enemy - HIV/AIDS.
Epeli Ganilau