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.
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
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