President Buhari’s Independence Day Speech in full:
October 1st is a day for joy and celebrations for us Nigerians,
whatever the circumstances we find ourselves in because it is the day,
55 years ago; we liberated ourselves from the shackles of colonialism
and began our long march to nationhood and to greatness.
No
temporary problems or passing challenges should stop us from honouring
this day. Let us remind ourselves of the gifts God has given us. Our
Creator has bequeathed to us Numbers – Nigeria is the ninth most
populated country on the planet. We have in addition arable land; water;
forests; oil and gas; coastline; and solid minerals
We have all
the attributes of a great nation. We are not there yet because the one
important commodity we have been unable to exploit to the fullest is
unity of purpose. This would have enabled us to achieve not only more
orderly political evolution and integration but also continuity and
economic progress.
Countries far less endowed have made greater economic progress by greater coherence and unity of purpose.
Nonetheless,
that we have remained together is an achievement we should all
appreciate and try to consolidate. We have witnessed this year a change
in our democratic development.
The fact that an opposition party
replaced an entrenched government in a free and fair election is
indicative of the deeper roots of our democratic system. Whatever one’s
views are, Nigerians must thank former President Jonathan for not
digging-in in the face of defeat and thereby saving the country untold
consequences.
As I said in my inaugural speech, I bear no ill will
against anyone on past events. Nobody should fear anything from me. We
are not after anyone. People should only fear the consequences of their
actions. I hereby invite everyone, whatever his or her political view to
join me in working for the nation.
My countrymen and women, every
new government inherits problems. Ours was no different. But what
Nigerians want are solutions, quick solutions not a recitation of
problems inherited.
Accordingly, after consultations with the Vice
President, senior party leaders and other senior stakeholders, I
quickly got down to work on the immediate, medium-term and long-term
problems which we must solve if we are to maintain the confidence which
Nigerians so generously bestowed on us in the March elections.
And
since then, as you know, I toured the neighbouring countries,
marshalled a coalition of armed forces of the five nations to confront
and defeat Boko Haram. I met also the G-7 leaders and other friendly
presidents in an effort to build an international coalition against Boko
Haram.
Our gallant armed forces under new leadership have taken
the battle to the insurgents, and severely weakened their logistical and
infrastructural capabilities. Boko Haram are being scattered and are on
the run.
That they are resorting to shameless attacks on soft
targets such as I.D.P. camps is indicative of their cowardice and
desperation. I have instructed security and local authorities to tighten
vigilance in vulnerable places. On power, government officials have
held a series of long sessions over several weeks about the best way to
improve the nation’s power supply in the safest and most cost-effective
way.
In the meantime, improvement in the power situation is
moderately encouraging. By the same token, supply of petrol and kerosene
to the public has improved throughout the country. All the early signs
are that within months the whole country would begin to feel a change
for the better.
Preliminary steps have been taken to sanitize NNPC
and improve its operations so that the inefficiency and corruption
could be reduced to a minimum.
Those of our refineries which can
be serviced and brought back into partial production would be enabled to
resume operations so that the whole sordid business of exporting crude
and importing finished products in dubious transactions could be
stopped.
In addition to NNPC, I have ordered a complete audit of
our other revenue generating agencies mainly CBN, FIRS, Customs, NCC,
for better service delivery to the nation.
Prudent house-keeping
is needed now more than ever in view of the sharp decline in world
market oil prices. It is a challenge we have to face squarely. But what
counts is not so much what accrues but how we manage our resources that
is important.
We have seen in the last few years how huge
resources were mismanaged, squandered and wasted. The new APC government
is embarking on a clean up, introducing prudence and probity in public
financing.
At an early stage, the federal government addressed the
issue of salary arrears in many states, a situation capable of
degenerating into social unrest. The APC government stepped in to
improve short-term support to the owing states and enabled them to pay
off the backlog and restore the livelihood of millions of Nigerians.
Fellow
Nigerians, there have been a lot of anxiety and impatience over the
apparent delay in announcement of ministers. There is no cause to be
anxious. Our government set out to do things methodically and properly.
We received the handover notes from the outgoing government only four
days before taking over.
Consequently, the Joda Transition
Committee submitted its Report on the reorganization of Federal
Government structure after studying the handover notes. It would have
been haphazard to announce ministers when the government had not
finalized the number of ministries to optimally carry the burden of
governance.
Anyway, the wait is over. The first set of names for
ministerial nominees for confirmation has been sent to the Senate.
Subsequent lists will be forwarded in due course. Impatience is not a
virtue. Order is more vital than speed. Careful and deliberate decisions
after consultations get far better results. And better results for our
country is what the APC government for CHANGE is all about.
I
would like to end my address this morning on our agenda for CHANGE.
Change does not just happen. You and I and all of us must appreciate
that we all have our part to play if we want to bring change about. We
must change our lawless habits, our attitude to public office and public
trust. We must change our unruly behaviour in schools, hospitals,
market places, motor parks, on the roads, in homes and offices. To bring
about change, we must change ourselves by being law-abiding citizens.
Happy Independence Celebrations. Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria. God bless you all.
