Credit: LIB
Friday, 29 May 2015
GEJ and wife arrive their hometown of Otuoke (photos)
Credit: LIB
Buhari deserves unalloyed cooperation, support- Jonathan
Mr. Jonathan, who made the call at the Presidential inaugural dinner in Abuja, said the incoming administration deserved the support because Nigerians irrespective of their religious or ethnic backgrounds belong to “one strong family”.
He said for the country to make steady progress, Nigerians must all work together at all levels regardless of the outcome of the 2015 general elections.
He, therefore, called on the incoming Mr. Buhari’s administration to pursue programmes and policies meant to promote national unity and rapid development of the country.
The president described the emergence of Akinwumi Adesina as President of African Development Bank (AfDB) as a well deserved parting gift to him.
He, therefore, thanked all African leaders for making it possible for Nigeria to preside over the bank for the first time since its inception.
In her remarks at the occasion, the chairperson of the African Union Commission, Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, assured the Nigeria’s President-elect, Muhammadu Bahari, of the Union’s support.
Ms. Zuma, who also congratulated President Jonathan for his statesmanship during and after the election, described him as a “statesman not in age but in status’’.
“Nigerians, you did us proud because if things go well in Nigeria they will go well in our continent,” she said.
In his goodwill message, the President of the ECOWAS commission, Kadré Ouédraogo, thanked the people and government of Nigeria for ensuring peaceful conduct of the 2015 general elections.
He described the exercise as Nigeria’s greatest contribution to ECOWAS.
Mr. Ouédraogo also commended Nigeria’s effort in tackling the spread of Ebola virus across the sub-region as well as the political crises in Guinea Bissau, Mali and other ECOWAS countries.
At the event, the Vice-President elect, Yemi Osinbajo, was conferred with the medal of Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger by President Jonathan.
Credit: NAN
Only 7 female senators in 8th National Assembly
Four of the female senators were elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) while three are members of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The PDP senators-elect are Stella Oduah (Anambra North), Uche Ekwunife (Anambra Central), Rose Oko (Cross River North) and Fatimat Raji-Rasaki (Ekiti Central).
Those elected on APC platform are Oluremi Tinubu (Lagos Central) and Binta Garba (Adamawa North) and Monsurat Jumoke Sunmonu (Oyo Central), who is the current speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly.
An examination of the list of the female senators-elect showed that all of them, except Senator Tinubu, are new members of the Red Chamber.
The number of female senators who will serve in the 8th assembly is 12.5 per cent less from the eight that are in the outgoing 7th assembly.
Statistics on the number of senators-elect for the 8th assembly revealed that 79 senators or 72 per cent are new while 30 senators or 28 per cent are old members returning for different terms in the upper chamber.
According to the statistics, APC with 61 senators or 56 per cent of the total number of senators will enjoy simple majority control in the chamber as against 44 per cent or 48 senators it has in the outgoing 7th Assembly.
The reverse is the case for PDP, which lost its majority status in the Upper Chamber with 48 senators-elect as against 61 senators in the outgoing 7th assembly.
Credit: NAN
Nigerian professionals more in Europe than in Nigeria – EU
The EU Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Michel Arrion, disclosed this at a conference on National Migration Policy Thematic Areas, organised by UN International Organisation for Migration in Abuja.
Mr. Arrion explained that EU welcomed migration as long as it was legal, adding that “it enhances the movement of factors of production, particularly labour, especially in Europe.”
“Migration is good,” Mr. Arrion said. “We (Europe) like migration as long as it is legal. We need migration for various reasons. Movement of factors of production is a good thing and labour moving freely is a very good thing.
“In Europe and in other western countries, we have this specific issue of aging population. So we need fresh blood in our countries but we have to be careful sometimes about brain drain. As you know, there are more PhD holders from Nigerian origin in Europe or in America than in Nigeria.
“There are more Nigerian doctors and nurses in Europe and in America than in Nigeria. So, let’s be careful with that. It is good to attract the best people but not to the detriment of the development of your country.”
In his remarks, the Minister of National Planning and Deputy Chairman, National Planning Commission, Abubakar Sulaiman, said Nigeria was grappling with a wide range of migration issues.
He said, “Nigeria as the most populous country on the continent grapples with a wide range of migration issues, from internal migration to massive intra and inter-regional migration.
“Migration of highly skilled and unskilled labour workforce, trafficking in persons, Diaspora engagement and remittances amongst others, have shaped the current migratory trends and dominated contemporary migration discourse.”
Represented by Bassey Akpanyung, the secretary of NPC, Mr. Sulaiman pledged Nigeria’s commitment toward migration issues.
He said the Federal Government’s commitment in this regard had been demonstrated by the endorsement of the National Labour Migration Policy and the National Migration Policy.
The minister said the policy recognised the challenges of migration in Nigeria, especially relating to smuggling and trafficking in persons and irregular migration.
According to him, it addresses the benefits of migration and considers ways of maximising opportunities to use the huge remittance flows from the Diaspora.
Mr. Sulaiman said the policy would also engage the skills, entrepreneurship, transnational transactions and ideas of the Diaspora.
Credit: NAN
Court stops NERC from increasing electricity tariff
The judge, Mohammed Idris, gave the order, in a ruling on an ex-parte application filed by a Lagos-based lawyer, Toluwani Adebiyi.
Mr. Idris restrained the NERC and the electricity distribution companies from effecting any increment in electricity tariff pending the hearing and determination of the suit.
Mr. Adebiyi, who argued the ex-parte application, had urged the court to restrain the NERC and the electricity distribution companies from implementing such plans to avoid further hardship and unjustifiable tariff increment on Nigerians.
The chairman of NERC, Sam Amadi, had, at a news conference in Abuja, announced plans by the Commission to implement the upward review in electricity tariff from June 1.
However, Mr. Idris, after entertaining arguments from Mr. Adebiyi, ordered the NERC to maintain the status quo of the substantive suit till the hearing of the suit.
The judge ordered that the motion and other processes in the suit be served on the NERC.
Mr. Idris also granted leave to the applicant to serve the originating summons, the affidavit in support, list of exhibits and the written address on the defendant in Abuja, which is outside Lagos judicial division of the Federal High Court.
The judge also adjourned the suit to June 11 for hearing.
Mr. Adebiyi, in the suit, is seeking an order restraining the NERC from implementing any upward review of electricity tariff without a meaningful and significant improvement in power supply at least for 18 hours in a day in most communities in the country.
He also wanted an order restraining the NERC from foisting compulsory service charge on pre-paid meters not until “the meters are designed to read charges per second of consumption and not a flat-rate of service not rendered or power not used.”
He also wanted the service charge on pre-paid meters not to be enforced until there is visible efficient and reliable power supply like those of foreign countries where the idea of service charge was borrowed.
Mr. Adebiyi is also asking for an order of the court mandating the NERC to do the needful and generate more power to meet the electricity use of Nigerians.
He added that the needful should include and not limited to a multiple long-term financing approach, sourced from the banks, capital market, insurance and other sectors of finance to power the sector.
The lawyer is also asking the court to mandate the NERC to make available to all Nigerians, within a reasonable time of maximum of two years, pre-paid meters as a way to stop the throat-cutting indiscriminate estimated bills and which must be devoid of the arbitrary service charge, but only chargeable on power consumed.
In an affidavit in support of the suit personally deposed to by the applicant, the lawyer lamented that despite the motto and mission of NERC which were expressly stated as “keeping the light on and to meet the needs of Nigeria for safe, adequate, reliable and affordable electricity”.
He said that most communities in Nigeria do not get more than 30 minutes of electricity supply, while the remaining 23 hours and 30 minutes were always without light and in total darkness.
Credit: NAN
Soldiers harass, detain Punch reporter taking pictures of Jonathan’s home
Mr. Utebor was arrested by soldiers for attempting to take pictures of President Goodluck Jonathan’s private home in Otuoke, Bayelsa State.
Mr. Ado said the JTF Commander in the state has ordered for the release of Mr. Utebor.
However, Mr. Utebor told PREMIUM TIMES via phone he was yet to regain his freedom.
“I have been transferred to the State CID, and I have written a statement on the incident and we are still waiting for the police authorities,” Mr. Utebor said.
Some soldiers deployed to protect President Goodluck Jonathan’s private residence in Otuoke, Bayelsa state, on Thursday had harassed and detained Mr. Utebor, for attempting to take pictures of the president’s house.
Mr. Utebor was arrested by soldiers from the Joint Task Force in the Niger Delta and handed over to the police at Otuoke Police Station.
Mr. Utebor was reportedly accosted by soldiers on guard duty while taking photographs of on-going work on the palatial residence constructed while the president was in office.
Artisans were seen putting finishing touches to the premises consisting of multiple blocks of two storey buildings.
Mr. Jonathan is expected to be received on Friday by the Bayelsa Government at the Gabriel Okara Cultural Centre at 3p.m. and later in his Otuoke country home by his kinsmen.
Earlier efforts to speak with the Punch correspondent were unsuccessful as his mobile phone was switched off.
When initially contacted the spokesperson of the Joint Task Force, Mr. Ado, had said he was out of station on official assignment but however, pledged to investigate the report and respond as soon as possible.
Credit: Premium Times
El-Rufai’s inauguration ends abruptly as youth attack Emir, Chief Judge
Nasir El-Rufai
The inauguration of Governor Nasir El-Rufa’i of Kaduna State ended
abruptly on Friday after angry youth pelted some prominent indigenes of
the state, including the revered Emir of Zaria, Shehu Idris, and the
state chief judge, Taminu Zailani, at the venue of the inauguration.
The rampaging youth accused them of colluding with the previous administration of Governor Ramalan Yero to plunder the resources of the state.
They specifically demanded the dethronement of the Emir who in the ensuing pandemonium that enveloped the venue of the inauguration was rescued and smuggled out of the venue by his palace guards.
A senator-elect, Shehu Sani, used his car to smuggle the chief judge out of the venue. He then drove him to his home in the Riga Chikun area of Kaduna.
Mr. El-Rufai could not review the parade mounted by the police as some youth pelted dignitaries with water in sachets, stones and other objects in the pavilion.
This prompted security agents to fire tear gas into the crowd at the Murtala Square, Kaduna.
Some dignitaries in the pavilion included the Emir of Zazzau, Shehu Idris, and other traditional rulers in the State.
The incident occurred when the new governor had concluded his address and was about to mount an open van to review the parade mounted by the police.
While the crowds were dispersed by the police, dignitaries remained seated, but the occasion ended abruptly without the governor reviewing the parade.
The Murtala Square was filled to capacity.
Credit: NAN
The rampaging youth accused them of colluding with the previous administration of Governor Ramalan Yero to plunder the resources of the state.
They specifically demanded the dethronement of the Emir who in the ensuing pandemonium that enveloped the venue of the inauguration was rescued and smuggled out of the venue by his palace guards.
A senator-elect, Shehu Sani, used his car to smuggle the chief judge out of the venue. He then drove him to his home in the Riga Chikun area of Kaduna.
Mr. El-Rufai could not review the parade mounted by the police as some youth pelted dignitaries with water in sachets, stones and other objects in the pavilion.
This prompted security agents to fire tear gas into the crowd at the Murtala Square, Kaduna.
Some dignitaries in the pavilion included the Emir of Zazzau, Shehu Idris, and other traditional rulers in the State.
The incident occurred when the new governor had concluded his address and was about to mount an open van to review the parade mounted by the police.
While the crowds were dispersed by the police, dignitaries remained seated, but the occasion ended abruptly without the governor reviewing the parade.
The Murtala Square was filled to capacity.
Credit: NAN
How Mu’azu escaped EFCC’s prosecution plot
Adamu Muazu
It was learnt that President Goodluck Jonathan bowed to pressure from some of his aides to allow EFCC prosecute Mu’azu following his resistance to resign after he led the party to its first humiliating defeat in 16 years. Jonathan was said to have advised Mu’azu to toe the path of honour and quit as national chairman after the PDP lost its ruling status in the general elections to the All Progressives Congress (APC). But the former governor was said to have declined the president’s request. Mu’azu was accused by the PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation of sabotaging Jonathan’s re-election by working for the opposition.
It was learnt that when Mu’azu got the hint that the hawks in the presidency were bent on humiliating him with the corruption case and in the face of growing calls by governors and PDP stakeholders for the dissolution of the National Working Committee (NWC), he travelled to Singapore, on the excuse that he was going for medical treatment. On Wednesday May 20, Mu’azu resigned while abroad.
“Mu’azu has no health challenge. He resigned to wade off the onslaught the presidency was bent on launching against him. Mu’azu has business interests in Singapore. As I’m speaking with you, he shuttles between Singapore and Malaysia where he manages his business interests. “The presidency felt the former PDP national chairman sabotaged the re-election bid of President Jonathan. So, they are after him.
The plan was to re-open his file with the EFCC which had been put at abeyance because of his cosy relationship with President Jonathan. So, the man is in Singapore to save his name,” an associate of the former governor told New Telegraph. The source stated that Mu’azu would return in June after the exit of Jonathan on Friday. The petition against Mu’azu had prompted the anti-graft agency to invite the former governor for investigation and he was billed to appear before EFCC operatives in Abuja in July 2008. Rather than honour the invitation, Mu’azu travelled to the United Kingdom on the pretence that he was attending the graduation of his daughter. After the event, Mu’azu relocated to Dubai, the United Arab Emirates. He was in Dubai on self-exile for two years.
As soon as Jonathan became president in 2010 after the death of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, Mu’azu returned to Nigeria in September 2010. On his return, EFCC in October 2010 maintained that the former governor still has a case to answer. “We wish to state emphatically that ex-Governor Adamu Mu’azu is still being investigated and as such could not have been cleared of graft allegations against him.
“The former governor who until recently has been out of the country is still expected to honour an invitation to be interviewed by a team of operatives investigating the case against him,” EFCC’s spokesperson at the time, Femi Babafemi, had said. But the anti-graft agency never presses any case against the former governor despite his failure to honour the invitation.
Jonathan and Mu’azu enjoyed bosom relationship when the president was deputy governor of Bayelsa State. New Telegraph learnt that in the heat of the political crisis in Bayelsa State when the Olusegun Obasanjo administration moved against the then Governor Diepriye Alamieyeseigha, Mu’azu accommodated Jonathan at the Yankari Games Resort in Bauchi and provided a shield for him. Jonathan left Bauchi shortly after the Bayelsa State House of Assembly impeached Alamieyeseigha to become the governor of the oil-rich state. The relationship between the president and Mu’azu helped the former governor to be appointed as PDP national chairman in January 2014 following the ouster of Alhaji Bamanga Tukur.
As soon as Mu’azu became the PDP national chairman, the corruption petition against him became an issue. But the PDP described the purported investigation of Mu’azu as part of a plot to distract its national chairman from his “determination and commitment to rebuild and reposition the PDP as the pre-eminent party in Nigeria.” PDP National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, who on January 26, 2014 defended Mu’azu, de-scribed the fraud allegation against him as political persecution. He added that based on the judgement of the Chief Judge of Bauchi State, Justice Mohammed Ibrahim Zango, who quashed the White Paper that indicted Mu’azu by the administration of his successor, Alhaji Isa Yuguda, the former PDP chair had been cleared of all allegations as contained in the White Paper.
Meanwhile, respite has come for members of the PDP National Working Committee (NWC) as the president has failed to press for their resignation after Monday’s meeting of the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT). There have been calls for the remaining members of NWC to resign after Mu’azu quit.
It was expected that Jonathan would call for the resignation of the PDP national leadership at the Monday’s meeting. But a source at the meeting said the president was cautious in his approach to the issue and would not like the NWC members to be stampeded into tendering their resignation letters like Chief Tony Anenih was made to resign as BoT chairman. At the Monday meeting a former National Chairman of the party, Dr. Bello Haliru Mohammed, emerged as an interim successor to Anenih.
The former minister of defence was unanimously selected at the meeting of the BoT members presided over by Jonathan. A former Customs officer, Mohammed served as a Commissioner, Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission in 1999, and later as Minister of Communication in 2001 under the Olusegun Obasanjo government. Haliru became the National Vice Chairman of the PDP, North-West Zone and later the deputy national chairman of the party and acting national chairman in 2010.
PDP acting National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, while welcoming the selection of Mohammed as the acting BoT chair, said he was adequately equipped to steer the ship of the BoT in the quest to rebuild and reposition the party. Secondus in a statement yesterday by Metuh, said the NWC would work hand-in-hand with the trustees and other key stakeholders in stabilising and reengineering the party to restore its preeminence in the polity.
Credit: New Telegraph
Why marriages don’t last anymore -Olu Jacobs
Marriages nowadays, especially of those in the showbiz industry, do not stand the test of time anymore. It is almost worse in Nollywood, where divorce is now a common thing.
Olu Jacobs, in a recent interview with The Nation, disclosed that the reason why many unions fail today is because people do not understand the meaning of the vow they made on their wedding; ‘for better or worse, for richer or poorer.’
In his real words, “Like I said, you don’t get married to come out of it. The words; ‘for better or worse, for richer or poorer’ are not mere words. They are not said for nothing.
“When you enter into marriage, you don’t think of coming out of it. That is why some people cannot mentally recover from it again, because they keep thinking about it. And that is why you have to safeguard yourself. This can only be achieved by knowing the kind of friends you keep.”
He said further that, “People will come to tell you stories, even if you find out it is true, you will be the one to deal with it and apply wisdom.
“As a married person, you are now thinking for two. You cannot take any independent decision because no decision you take should be for yourself alone. Communicating helps a lot, once you are talking, it solves a lot of things.”
I can never be caged as housewife -Waje blows hot
Nigerian entertainer, Waje Iruobe, is one
singer that has bonded well with most of her teeming fans because of how
she interacts with them regularly unlike other celebrities.
The Edo State-born artiste, while responding to a question thrown at her by Nigeriafilms.com, said she is giving marriage a thought, but at God's appointed time.
Waje, speaking further on her kind of man as husband, said, "If I marry a boy oh yes he will be scared but a man won't be scared because he will be proud of who I am."
But the singer emphasised that by the time she finally settles for her dream man, she will never accept to be a full housewife, but continue to be a career woman.
The Edo State-born artiste, while responding to a question thrown at her by Nigeriafilms.com, said she is giving marriage a thought, but at God's appointed time.
Waje, speaking further on her kind of man as husband, said, "If I marry a boy oh yes he will be scared but a man won't be scared because he will be proud of who I am."
But the singer emphasised that by the time she finally settles for her dream man, she will never accept to be a full housewife, but continue to be a career woman.
If Foluke Daramola’s rape incident had produced a child, I’d have still cared—Kayode Salako
Being sexually molested can leave an
indelible pain or affect the psychology of its victim. This is why those
living with such horrible experiences find it difficult to relate with
the opposite s3x except he or she goes through some counseling.
It is no news that popular actress, Foluke Daramola Salako went through such. But since she summed up the courage to speak up about it, she has taken it upon herself to help other victims.
After her first marriage failed, she got married to a social activist, Kayode Salako.
Speaking with Nigeriafilms.com and other journalists at his wife’s movie premiere and launch of her foundation, Salako said even if Foluke’s rape incident had produced a child, he would have still cared for the child like his own.
Salako said based on his level of education and exposure, there was no way he would hold his wife responsible for what happened to her while she was a teenager, which she had no control over.
According to him, “I am a liberally inclined person, very realistic to the core, I am educationally inclined and things like that don’t bother me at all.
“Whether she is a r@pe victim or not, what I am going to say is that I didn’t meet her a v*rgin and the only painful aspect of it is that she was introduced to sex against her own consent or wish, which is very bad enough, that is the only aspect of the experience I don’t like.
“But as a victim of sexual molestation, that doesn’t bother me at all because it didn’t take her life and she is still normal and okay. The only thing it affected her was that it affected her physiologically at a time, a period of her life, but I did not meet her in it.
“She had come out of it before we met and the two of us have lived normally and perfectly together you won’t even know that she is a rape victim if she didn’t tell you.”
When asked if he would have still cared had she been pregnant and went ahead to give birth to the child, the actress’ husband said, “If I can be a father to her two children she brought into our marriage, then if by that circumstance, I have to love and accept her and whatever she has as a child must also be accepted.
“Though I might not be happy that my wife was bringing a child that she doesn’t know the father to my house, but let me tell you something please, every human being has its own life to live and that child too has his own life to live and it’s not compulsory that every child must have parents.
“What is compulsory is that every child must have a life and once the child she is bringing to me has a life and it is her own, I must love her in that circumstance and so she becomes my child, that’s all, nothing changes.
“I have told you, I am a liberally inclined person, I don’t attach meanings to the way a typical African man attaches meaning to things. That is why Foluke Daramola has been enjoying me and I have been enjoying her too; we are both liberally inclined.
Credit: NigeriaFilms
It is no news that popular actress, Foluke Daramola Salako went through such. But since she summed up the courage to speak up about it, she has taken it upon herself to help other victims.
After her first marriage failed, she got married to a social activist, Kayode Salako.
Speaking with Nigeriafilms.com and other journalists at his wife’s movie premiere and launch of her foundation, Salako said even if Foluke’s rape incident had produced a child, he would have still cared for the child like his own.
Salako said based on his level of education and exposure, there was no way he would hold his wife responsible for what happened to her while she was a teenager, which she had no control over.
According to him, “I am a liberally inclined person, very realistic to the core, I am educationally inclined and things like that don’t bother me at all.
“Whether she is a r@pe victim or not, what I am going to say is that I didn’t meet her a v*rgin and the only painful aspect of it is that she was introduced to sex against her own consent or wish, which is very bad enough, that is the only aspect of the experience I don’t like.
“But as a victim of sexual molestation, that doesn’t bother me at all because it didn’t take her life and she is still normal and okay. The only thing it affected her was that it affected her physiologically at a time, a period of her life, but I did not meet her in it.
“She had come out of it before we met and the two of us have lived normally and perfectly together you won’t even know that she is a rape victim if she didn’t tell you.”
When asked if he would have still cared had she been pregnant and went ahead to give birth to the child, the actress’ husband said, “If I can be a father to her two children she brought into our marriage, then if by that circumstance, I have to love and accept her and whatever she has as a child must also be accepted.
“Though I might not be happy that my wife was bringing a child that she doesn’t know the father to my house, but let me tell you something please, every human being has its own life to live and that child too has his own life to live and it’s not compulsory that every child must have parents.
“What is compulsory is that every child must have a life and once the child she is bringing to me has a life and it is her own, I must love her in that circumstance and so she becomes my child, that’s all, nothing changes.
“I have told you, I am a liberally inclined person, I don’t attach meanings to the way a typical African man attaches meaning to things. That is why Foluke Daramola has been enjoying me and I have been enjoying her too; we are both liberally inclined.
Credit: NigeriaFilms
Uche Jombo puts to bed baby boy
The actress baby has been long expected as many had some weeks back rumoured that she had put to bed but finally the waiting is over as she welcomed the baby late last night, May 28th, 2015, in the morning.
Fans had flocked her social media page to send congratulatory messages to the actress as she has already named the baby, Matthew.
In her words, “Baby matthew is here! Just one look at him and the world is alright with me! Yeah it’s a lovely day! Thank you Jesus! Thank you ALL for your prayers! We are grateful and thankful for this gift of life.#gemini baby #May 28th.”
President Muhammadu Buhari’s 2015 Inaugural Speech
Muhammadu Buhari taking oath of office in Abuja
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
Credit: Premium Times
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