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| The 2015 Nigeria's elected President; His excellency Muhammadu Buhari |
Muhammadu Buhari following his swearing-in as
President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on
29th May, 2015
I am immensely grateful to God Who 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
brethenen 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
