Below is what the new president said;
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 21 st 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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