PRESIDENT BUHARI'S INAUGURAL SPEECH,MAY 29TH 2015.

FULL TEXT OF PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI'S INAUGURAL SPEECH...

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.