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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