The patriotic spirit and willingness to do whatever it takes to defend the sovereignty of the country must be omnipresent in each Malaysian, said Najib Abdul Razak.

The prime minister said if love for the nation and willingness to sacrifice to defend the country were deep-rooted in the hearts of all Malaysians, no one would dare to challenge the country's sovereignty.

"We know that if have the patriotic spirit, out nation will forge ahead because no enemy whether internal of external will dare to do anything to damage it or try to topple the government that has been duly elected by the people." he said.

Najib said this when launching the 'Ekspresi Negaraku' programme at Padang Perbandaran Sandakan. Also present were Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman and Communications and Multimedia Minister Salleh Said Keruak.

He reminded the people on the danger posed by "wolves in sheep's clothing" among Malaysians saying Malaysian security forces personnel suffered because of this during the intrusion into Sabah by Sulu militants in 2013.

Najib, in recalling the sacrifices by Supt Ibrahim Lebar, was from the peninsula, said the soldier and his colleagues, who were on duty in Semporna, were killed in the incident because there was a policeman who leaked out information on the operation to the enemy.

"I want to tell of you here that if we are united and love our country, no enemy from outside can cause harm and threaten Sabah soil," he added.

The prime minister said that the government had spent RM323 million this year for the Eastern Sabah Security Zone (Esszone) operation.

Sabah coast 'still safe'

"Until today, Alhamdulillah, the Esszone are is safe. I have been informed that many tourists are going to Semporna."

"The tourism industry prospers in the east coast, why? (Its) because of government contributions , both from the state and federal government," he said.

As such, Najib reminded all quarters to not try to put the state and federal governments at loggerheads because the state and federal government were like one family and had the same objective which was to bring prosperity to Sabah and its people.

Najib said the Sabah people should not be swayed by the slogan 'Sabah For Sabahans' because as the prime minister, he would do the best for the state and its people.

For example, he said, Sabah received the biggest development allocation from the federal government for two years under the 11th Malaysia Plan, totalling RM9 billion, which was 10.3 percent of the federal government's budget.

"We also did something more that what is expected or thought of by the people, like Phase 1 of the Pan Borneo Expressway for Sabah. The Sabah people have waited for so long, 25 years of waiting for the expressway.

"Somebody became a prime minister for 22 years, but did not implement Pan-Borneo for Sabah. I may not be (prime minister) for 22 years, but had carried out the Pan-Borneo Expressway and with no toll charge," he added.

He said the federal government spent RM12.8 billion for the first phase of the project, involving more than 700 kilometres of the expressway from Sindumin, Sipitang, to Tawau.

When fully completed, the Pan-Borneo Expressway is expected to cost more than RM20 billion, he added.

- Bernama