Brantley: We must become good citizens in our adopted countries
Hon. O’Neal acknowledged the Nevisians and what they have done in the Virgin Islands. He commented on the Nevis Cricket Team, their success and their players who were accepted on the West Indies Cricket Team.
“We all know that Nevis is smaller, but being small has not prevented them from succeeding in a lot of things,” said the First Premier of the Virgin Islands.
Hon O’Neal, who is currently the Opposition Leader in the VI, spoke about the first time he met Mr. Theodore Skeete, who is the First President of NAPS, and said when he looked at the way Mr. Skeete conducted his school while serving as Head Master of the Cane Garden Bay School, it reminded him of himself.
“It is wonderful when societies can be established, especially in countries where there are no embassies and so the Nevis Alliance Progressive Society acts as an embassy for the Nevisians who are residing here in the VI.”
To the members of NAPS, O’Neal said, “no one is bigger than a society, and you must be prepared to accept what the society ask of you, for the society to grow and increase.”
Hon. O’Neal ended his speech with a quote saying, "hope for the best, get ready for the worst and accept what God says”.
“Father of modern Nevis” awarded
Along with Hon O’Neal, the other honorees also thanked NAPS for their recognition.
Mr. Adrian Daniel, the son of Dr. Hon. Simeon Daniel, First Premier of Nevis, accepted the award on his father’s behalf, stating that Hon. Daniel is known as the ‘father of modern Nevis’.
Through him, Hon. Daniel commended the society for their continued work in the VI and Nevis.
“NAPS is truly a positive influence on the development of both communities.”
In speaking of some of his father’s achievements, Mr. Adrian Daniel said his father was instrumental in the creation and development of the Nevis Offshore Industry and is a founding member of the Bank of Nevis. He stated that his father was very close with the Teachers Education Programme in Nevis, ensuring that the teachers are well trained to instruct and develop the youths of Nevis.
Meanwhile, Deputy Governor of the VI and the First Female Speaker of the House in the Virgin Islands, V. Inez Archibald, commended Hon. O’Neal, saying that his voice might be weak and faint, but his brain is as solid as ever, and he still is as fierce and as sharp as ever.
Mrs. Archibald congratulated the NAPS on their 10th anniversary and all the other honorees and commended them on all the work they have done for both the VI and Nevis.
“I am deeply honoured for being a part of the occasion,” said Deputy Governor Archibald.
She thanked her family for their support; her husband, father, sister, children and friends, for coming out and supporting her at the award ceremony.
“If ever the time when the world meets the Lord on judgment day and he asks what have you done for the least of these, the works that the members of NAPS do would make their answer much easier, because they can proudly say, ‘I fed the hungry, I clothed the naked, I sheltered the homeless and I looked after the prisoners’.”
While looking at Mr. Theodore Skeete, the Deputy Governor said, “I’m sure that you have done your life's work, in establishing this association and all of Nevis and indeed the BVI must say thank you for all that you have done."
Sons of Mr. Skeete, Mauyan and Tremis Skeete, accepted the award on behalf of their father, saying that their father is of many things but two most important things he stand for are ambition and innovation.
“He always would set out to create an opportunity where one didn’t exist, if he felt an opportunity wasn’t available for him, he would create it for himself and many other people within his community."
Mr. Mauyan Skeete, said that his father’s passions are education and Nevis. "He is a Nevisian through and through and through” and said he always reminded them of their culture and background.
They congratulated their father and thanked the Nevis Alliance Progressive Society for honouring him.
Become good citizens in adopted country - Brantley
Keynote Speaker for the Event, Hon. Mark A. G. Brantley, shared with the attendees of the celebration, that from looking at the biographies of Hon Ralph T. O’Neal and Hon. Simeon Daniel, he realized that both of the honourees contested for elections in 1971, both lost in 1971 both won in 1975 and both went on to be first premier of their respective countries.
"I say to the British Virgin Islands attendees that I salute you for welcoming our people to your shores , and making them feel just much as home as if they were in St. Kitts and Nevis.”
Hon. Brantley commended the members of NAPS, "to have survived 10 years is credit enough, to have prospered and grown in that time and to have fulfilled the mandate to the people of the BVI and the people of Nevis is simply phenomenal.”
He stated that, NAPS has been an inspiration for many and he is inspired by the works done by the group for the people of the VI and Nevis.
"Wherever we choose to live in this world, we must become good citizens of our adopted country and let our light so shine that it brings down the benefits for Kittitians and Nevisians at home and abroad. The Nevis Alliance Progressive Society embodies the notion of each of us becoming our brother’s keeper, each of us having an obligation to look out for each other,” said Hon. Brantley
He thanked NAPS for inviting him as the Keynote Speaker of the event and congratulated the honourees on their honours.
“The lives of the honorees are the lives spent in the service of their fellow men; it is not by accident that they were selected by NAPS, they have been selected because they have laid solid foundations in the BVI and Nevis.”
In conclusion, Hon. Brantley stated that the honourees have ensured that the people inherit a better Virgin Islands, a better Nevis and a better Caribbean, and others must build carefully on that foundation to ensure that the next generation equally inherits a better world.
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