INAUGURAL SPEECH OF PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI.
May 29, 2015
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
