broadcast on Thursday (today) assured Nigerians that his government
was not persecuting anybody but said all must be ready to account for
their deeds.
Borrowing from his inaugural speech on May 29,
Buhari said, "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."
Nigeria today marks 55 years of independence,
having secured its freedom from the British
colonialists on October 1, 1960.
The President said the citizens needed to celebrate
notwithstanding the situation in the country, thou he
regretted that we had not fully exploited unity of
purpose as a nation blessed with vast human and
natural resources.
Buhari told Nigerians: "We have all the attributes of a
great nation. We are not there yet because the one
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."
He again paid tribute to former President Goodluck
Jonathan for conceding defeat in the March 28, 2015
election.
"We have witnessed this year a sea 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 (Goodluck) Jonathan for not
digging-in in the face of defeat and thereby saving the
country untold consequences," he said.
The President, in his review of his government's five
months in office, acknowledged Nigerians'
expectation for the government to hit the ground
running and that he had taken some steps to meet
such expectations.
Buhari said, "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,
marshal led a coalition of armed forces of the five
nations to confront and defeat Boko Haram. I met
also the G7 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 Internally Displaced Persons' camps
is indicative of their cowardice and desperation. I
have instructed security and local authorities to
tighten vigilance in vulnerable places."
The President said government officials had held a
series of long sessions on the best way to improve
the nation's power supply "in the safest and most
cost effective way" and that a moderate improvement
in electricity supply had been achieved.
The President said improvement had also been noted
in the supply of petrol and kerosene to the public and
that early signs indicated that within months the
whole country would begin to feel a change for the
better.
Buhari also said preliminary steps had been taken to
sanitise the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation
to curb its inefficiency and corruption.
"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," he added.
The President said that he had also ordered the
complete audit of government's other revenue
generating agencies, mainly the Central Bank of
Nigeria, the Federal Inland Revenue Service, the
Nigeria Customs Service and the Nigerian
Communications Commission to achieve better
service delivery to the nation.
The President's address further read, "Prudent
housekeeping 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 All Progressives Congress
government is embarking on a cleanup, 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 provide short-
term support to the owing states and enabled them
to pay off the backlog and restore the livelihood of
millions of Nigerians."
The President also spoke about public anxiety
concerning his delay in appointing ministers. He said
his government had chosen not to rush forming a
cabinet without a clearer picture of what was
bequeathed to it by the past administration.
He said, "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 (Ahmed) Joda
Transition Committee submitted its report on the
reorganisation of Federal Government structure after
studying the handover notes.
"It would have been haphazard to announce
ministers when the government had not finalised 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."
The Senate president, Bukola Saraki, announced on
Wednesday that he had received the ministerial list
from the President and that the Senate would
commence deliberation on it on Tuesday.
Source: punch
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