I belong to nobody –President Buhari …promises to rescue Chibok girls

President Muhammadu Buhari on
Friday warned political forces or
anyone who thought he would be
answerable to him in the next four
years, saying he belonged to
nobody.
He spoke soon after he was
formally inaugurated as the
successor to Dr. Goodluck Jonathan
at the Eagle Square, Abuja, the
nation’s capital.
Amid intermittent applause and
shouts of “Sai Baba” and “Sai
Buhari” from the audience, the
Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice
Mahmud Muhammed, administered
the oaths on Buhari at exactly
10.47am
In his inaugural speech, Buhari
dressed in a cream-coloured kaftan
with a brown cap to match stated
that while he was prepared to
serve Nigerians, who voted him
into power on March 28, he would
not be under the control of
anybody.
“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,” Buhari said.
He allayed the fears by some
suspected past corrupt leaders who
might view Buhari’s presidency as
coming to victimise them.
He reassured such persons that
their fears were unfounded, adding
that he had opted to put the past
behind him.
“A few people have privately
voiced their 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,” Buhari said.
Rather than going after such
persons, the President said the
immediate task before him was to
address the major concerns of
Nigerians, mainly insecurity,
“intolerable corruption” and
epileptic power supply.
Although his speech did not clearly
indicate the drastic steps he would
take to solve the problem of the
power sector, he recalled that the
$20bn spent on the sector since
1999 had only left Nigeria in
“darkness and misery” which must
be “addressed.”
The President said, “No single
cause can be identified to explain
Nigeria’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 $20bn
expended 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.”
On insecurity, he admitted that the
Boko Haram sect remained the
major threat to Nigeria, saying that
the Federal Government under him
“must” do everything within its
powers to bring insurgency to an
end.
He arrived at the Eagle Square,
Abuja, view of the inauguration at
exactly 9.40 am, the time slated for
him to arrive the venue in the
programme of events.
Buhari promised to relocate the
command headquarters of the
fighting forces of the military to
Maiduguri, Borno State, until Boko
Haram was defeated.
The President added that his
government would work tirelessly
to ensure that the Chibok
schoolgirls and other captives held
by the terrorist group were
released alive.
He said, “Progress has been made
in recent weeks by our security
forces but victory cannot 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 cannot 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.”
On corruption, the President asked
other tiers of government to
support him in the arduous task of
cleaning the country of sleaze,
particularly in the public service.
He said, “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
cannot 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.”
The President also gave an insight
into how he would relate with the
National Assembly and the
Judiciary.
He noted that while he would not
interfere in the activities of the
legislature, Buhari advised the
National Assembly to stick to its
“brief of making laws.”
Buhari called on the judiciary to
free itself from the mistakes of the
past where some judicial officers
were perceived to be corrupt. He
also sought the cooperation of
labour unions, organised private
sector, the press and civil society
organisations.
According to him, employers and
workers must 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,” he
said.
Acknowledging the task before
him, Buhari said, “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.”
The challenges, he said, included
Boko Haram, the Niger Delta
situation, the power shortages and
unemployment, especially among
youths.
Buhari said, “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.”
Before the inauguration, Vice-
President Yemi Osinbajo, former
Vice-President, Namadi Sambo and
other top officials of government
had arrived the Eagle Square amid
cheers.
Buhari and Jonathan too had
arrived in succession,
acknowledging cheers from the
surging crowds.
It was Osinbajo, in company with
his wife, Dolapo, who first took the
oath of office and oath of allegiance
at 10:30 am as dignitaries and
supporters of the All Progressives
Congress cheered.
When Buhari took his turn, the
surging crowd nearly enveloped
the podium, giving security
operatives very tough time to
control.
A 21-gun salute soon followed amid
a colourful parade by a combined
party of the military and the Nigeria
Police Force.
Jonathan, who did not come with
his wife, Patience, soon took his
leave after handing over the
symbol of authority to Buhari.
The former President waved his
final goodbye, but without uttering
a word as the brief ceremony
lasted.