FULL SPEECH OF MR PRESIDENT AT THE INAUGURATION

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 fromfriends

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 forus 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 fromNigeria. 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 forus 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 fewpeople have privately voiced fears that on coming back

to officeI shall go after them. These fears are groundless.

There will be no paying offold 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

ourproblems.

In recent times Nigerian leaders appear to have misread our

mission. Our founding fathers, Mr Herbert Macauley, Dr

Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief ObafemiAwolowo, 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 intheir 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 flowin 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 fromits
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 ifI 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 forunity 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
awayfromIslam 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 forour 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 fromEast and West, frompowerful 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 affairsof
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.