Has preserved us to witness this day
and this occasion. Today marks a
triumph for Nigeria and an occasion to
celebrate her freedom and cherish her
democracy. Nigerians have shown their
commitment to democracy and are
determined to entrench its culture. Our
journey has not been easy but thanks to
the determination of our people and
strong support from friends abroad we
have today a truly democratically
elected government in place.
I would like to thank President Goodluck
Jonathan for his display of
statesmanship in setting a precedent for
us that has now made our people proud
to be Nigerians wherever they are. With
the support and cooperation he has
given to the transition process, he has
made it possible for us to show the
world that despite the perceived tension
in the land we can be a united people
capable of doing what is right for our
nation. Together we co-operated to
surprise the world that had come to
expect only the worst from Nigeria. I
hope this act of graciously accepting
defeat by the outgoing President will
become the standard of political
conduct in the country.
I would like to thank the millions of our
supporters who believed in us even
when the cause seemed hopeless. I
salute their resolve in waiting long hours
in rain and hot sunshine to register and
cast their votes and stay all night if
necessary to protect and ensure their
votes count and were counted. I thank
those who tirelessly carried the
campaign on the social media. At the
same time, I thank our other countrymen
and women who did not vote for us but
contributed to make our democratic
culture truly competitive, strong and
definitive.
I thank all of you.
Having just a few minutes ago sworn on
the Holy Book, I intend to keep my oath
and serve as President to all Nigerians.
I belong to everybody and I belong to
nobody.
A few people have privately voiced fears
that on coming back to office I shall go
after them. These fears are groundless.
There will be no paying off old scores.
The past is prologue.
Our neighbours in the Sub-region and
our African brethren should rest assured
that Nigeria under our administration will
be ready to play any leadership role that
Africa expects of it. Here I would like to
thank the governments and people of
Cameroon, Chad and Niger for
committing their armed forces to fight
Boko Haram in Nigeria.
I also wish to assure the wider
international community of our
readiness to cooperate and help to
combat threats of cross-border
terrorism, sea piracy, refugees and boat
people, financial crime, cyber crime,
climate change, the spread of
communicable diseases and other
challenges of the 21st century.
At home we face enormous challenges.
Insecurity, pervasive corruption, the
hitherto unending and seemingly
impossible fuel and power shortages are
the immediate concerns. We are going
to tackle them head on. Nigerians will
not regret that they have entrusted
national responsibility to us. We must
not succumb to hopelessness and
defeatism. We can fix our problems.
In recent times Nigerian leaders appear
to have misread our mission. Our
founding fathers, Mr Herbert Macauley,
Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Obafemi
Awolowo, Alhaji Ahmadu Bello, the
Sardauna of Sokoto, Alhaji Abubakar
Tafawa Balewa, Malam Aminu Kano,
Chief J.S. Tarka, Mr Eyo Ita, Chief Denis
Osadeby, Chief Ladoke Akintola and
their colleagues worked to establish
certain standards of governance. They
might have differed in their methods or
tactics or details, but they were united in
establishing a viable and progressive
country. Some of their successors
behaved like spoilt children breaking
everything and bringing disorder to the
house.
Furthermore, we as Nigerians must
remind ourselves that we are heirs to
great civilizations: Shehu Othman Dan
fodio’s caliphate, the Kanem Borno
Empire, the Oyo Empire, the Benin
Empire and King Jaja’s formidable
domain. The blood of those great
ancestors flow in our veins. What is now
required is to build on these legacies, to
modernize and uplift Nigeria.
Daunting as the task may be it is by no
means insurmountable. There is now a
national consensus that our chosen
route to national development is
democracy. To achieve our objectives
we must consciously work the
democratic system. The Federal
Executive under my watch will not seek
to encroach on the duties and functions
of the Legislative and Judicial arms of
government. The law enforcing
authorities will be charged to operate
within the Constitution. We shall rebuild
and reform the public service to become
more effective and more serviceable. We
shall charge them to apply themselves
with integrity to stabilize the system.
For their part the legislative arm must
keep to their brief of making laws,
carrying out over-sight functions and
doing so expeditiously. The judicial
system needs reform to cleanse itself
from its immediate past. The country
now expects the judiciary to act with
dispatch on all cases especially on
corruption, serious financial crimes or
abuse of office. It is only when the three
arms act constitutionally that
government will be enabled to serve the
country optimally and avoid the
confusion all too often bedeviling
governance today.
Elsewhere relations between Abuja and
the States have to be clarified if we are
to serve the country better.
Constitutionally there are limits to
powers of each of the three tiers of
government but that should not mean
the Federal Government should fold its
arms and close its eyes to what is going
on in the states and local governments.
Not least the operations of the Local
Government Joint Account. While the
Federal Government can not interfere in
the details of its operations it will ensure
that the gross corruption at the local
level is checked. As far as the
constitution allows me I will try to
ensure that there is responsible and
accountable governance at all levels of
government in the country. For I will not
have kept my own trust with the
Nigerian people if I allow others abuse
theirs under my watch.
However, no matter how well organized
the governments of the federation are
they can not succeed without the
support, understanding and cooperation
of labour unions, organized private
sector, the press and civil society
organizations. I appeal to employers and
workers alike to unite in raising
productivity so that everybody will have
the opportunity to share in increased
prosperity. The Nigerian press is the
most vibrant in Africa. My appeal to the
media today – and this includes the
social media – is to exercise its
considerable powers with responsibility
and patriotism.
My appeal for unity is predicated on the
seriousness of the legacy we are getting
into. With depleted foreign reserves,
falling oil prices, leakages and debts the
Nigerian economy is in deep trouble and
will require careful management to bring
it round and to tackle the immediate
challenges confronting us, namely; Boko
Haram, the Niger Delta situation, the
power shortages and unemployment
especially among young people. For the
longer term we have to improve the
standards of our education. We have to
look at the whole field of medicare. We
have to upgrade our dilapidated physical
infrastructure.
The most immediate is Boko Haram’s
insurgency. Progress has been made in
recent weeks by our security forces but
victory can not be achieved by basing
the Command and Control Centre in
Abuja. The command centre will be
relocated to Maiduguri and remain until
Boko Haram is completely subdued. But
we can not claim to have defeated Boko
Haram without rescuing the Chibok girls
and all other innocent persons held
hostage by insurgents.
This government will do all it can to
rescue them alive. Boko Haram is a
typical example of small fires causing
large fires. An eccentric and unorthodox
preacher with a tiny following was given
posthumous fame and following by his
extra judicial murder at the hands of the
police. Since then through official
bungling, negligence, complacency or
collusion Boko Haram became a
terrifying force taking tens of thousands
of lives and capturing several towns and
villages covering swathes of Nigerian
sovereign territory.
Boko Haram is a mindless, godless
group who are as far away from Islam
as one can think of. At the end of the
hostilities when the group is subdued
the Government intends to commission
a sociological study to determine its
origins, remote and immediate causes of
the movement, its sponsors, the
international connexions to ensure that
measures are taken to prevent a
reccurrence of this evil. For now the
Armed Forces will be fully charged with
prosecuting the fight against Boko
haram. We shall overhaul the rules of
engagement to avoid human rights
violations in operations. We shall
improve operational and legal
mechanisms so that disciplinary steps
are taken against proven human right
violations by the Armed Forces.
Boko Haram is not only the security
issue bedeviling our country. The spate
of kidnappings, armed robberies,
herdsmen/farmers clashes, cattle
rustlings all help to add to the general
air of insecurity in our land. We are
going to erect and maintain an efficient,
disciplined people – friendly and well –
compensated security forces within an
over – all security architecture.
The amnesty programme in the Niger
Delta is due to end in December, but the
Government intends to invest heavily in
the projects, and programmes currently
in place. I call on the leadership and
people in these areas to cooperate with
the State and Federal Government in the
rehabilitation programmes which will be
streamlined and made more effective.
As ever, I am ready to listen to
grievances of my fellow Nigerians. I
extend my hand of fellowship to them so
that we can bring peace and build
prosperity for our people.
No single cause can be identified to
explain Nigerian’s poor economic
performance over the years than the
power situation. It is a national shame
that an economy of 180 million
generates only 4,000MW, and distributes
even less. Continuous tinkering with the
structures of power supply and
distribution and close on $20b expanded
since 1999 have only brought darkness,
frustration, misery, and resignation
among Nigerians. We will not allow this
to go on. Careful studies are under way
during this transition to identify the
quickest, safest and most cost-effective
way to bring light and relief to Nigerians.
Unemployment, notably youth un-
employment features strongly in our
Party’s Manifesto. We intend to attack
the problem frontally through revival of
agriculture, solid minerals mining as well
as credits to small and medium size
businesses to kick – start these
enterprises. We shall quickly examine
the best way to revive major industries
and accelerate the revival and
development of our railways, roads and
general infrastructure.
Your Excellencies, My fellow Nigerians I
can not recall when Nigeria enjoyed so
much goodwill abroad as now. The
messages I received from East and
West, from powerful and small countries
are indicative of international
expectations on us. At home the newly
elected government is basking in a
reservoir of goodwill and high
expectations. Nigeria therefore has a
window of opportunity to fulfill our long
– standing potential of pulling ourselves
together and realizing our mission as a
great nation.
Our situation somehow reminds one of a
passage in Shakespeare’s Julius Ceasar
There is a tide in the affairs of men
which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life,
Is bound in shallows and miseries.
We have an opportunity. Let us take it.
Thank you
Muhammadu Buhari,
President Federal Republic of NIGERIA
and Commander in-chief-of the Armed forces.
SOURCE; channelstv
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