I belong to nobody –President Buhari,I …vows to fulfill his promises

Firstclass newsline Special~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.
Firstclassnewsline.net