President Buhari during the parade |
Inaugural speech by His Excellency,
President 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.
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 th 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
Muhammadu Buhari
President Federal Republic of NIGERIA
and Commander in-chief-of the Armed forces
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