President Muhammadu Buhari has admitted that it is difficult to fulfill all his electoral promises.
He said the task before him was not an easy one.
The President, however, said that he
would work hard with his team to bequeath to the country a new
orientation in leadership that would be service-driven.
Buhari, who spoke on Friday at the
graduation ceremony of Course 24 of the National Defence College, Abuja,
where he was the Special Guest of Honour, explained that though it was
not easy to fulfill all the electoral promises, he and members of his
team were trusting in God that they would deliver through hard work and
sound vision.
He said, “Let me assure you all that
this administration is committed to bequeathing to this nation, a new
orientation in leadership that will be service-driven and committed to
the realisation of its promises to the electorates.
“We are however not under any illusion that this task is an easy one.
“But we have put our trust in God knowing that with hard work and sound vision, we will triumph.”
Buhari expressed delight that in the
last one year, through the hard work, dedication and sacrifices made by
members of the nation’s armed forces and security services, the nation
had been able to degrade the capacity of Boko Haram insurgents to wreck
havoc.
On the incessant clashes between
herdsmen and farmers, the President said his administration would not
condone any act of criminality.
He said he had therefore directed security agencies to deal decisively with the situation.
The President said, “On the
herdsmen/farmers clashes, I wish to state that this administration will
not tolerate or condone acts of banditry and criminality, under any
guise.
“As such, our security agencies have been mandated to deal with such acts decisively.
“Let me state that this administration
has been working assiduously in conjunction with our local and
international partners, to rebuild damaged communities in North-East
part of our country.
“Similarly, we are committed to tackling the issues of underdevelopment and neglect in the Niger Delta area.
“This is a priority we have set before
us and we intend to make appreciable gains in correcting the ills of the
past in the Niger Delta by assuaging inherent grievances,” he said.
For the Nigerian graduating
participants, Buhari said he expected that they would all have made the
most of their time on the course and be ready to join the ongoing
process to change Nigeria for the better.
He stated that Nigeria had made
tremendous progress in the last one year towards taking its rightful
position in the comity of nations.
The President promised to continue to
build on the progress in the coming years so as to ensure that Nigeria
maintains the enviable heights it had achieved thus far, adding that it
is a task that all Nigerians must resolve to do.
He said, “International confidence in
our country and its future is beginning to return because of how we are
slowly finding ways to solve our problems.
“The nation is beginning to have faith
in the ability of our society’s institutional capacity to tackle our
problems. But we must work doubly hard to restore our nation to higher
glory.
“The Nigerian Armed Forces have proven to be equal to the task of maintaining our internal and external security.”
The President recalled that at the
inception of his administration, he outlined certain core areas of
national life that require immediate intervention, which are to secure
the country, improve the economy and fight corruption.
He said corruption and poverty remained the country’s main problems.
Through his anti-corruption war, he said billions of naira had been recovered from indicted companies and individuals.
The President added that the nation had saved more money through the implementation of the Treasury Single Account.
Buhari said, “To tap the nation’s vast
opportunities, Nigeria needs a philosophy of transparency and
accountability in governance.
“The other core areas that we need to
improve are the rule of law and moral standards in government and in
society in order to provide a good foundation for good governance so
that our gains are not dissipated by corruption.
“Good governance must be based on a
sound moral foundation, a philosophy of transparency, accountability and
an ethic of effective implementation.
“Already, our unrelenting fight against
criminality and corruption in governance is a clear testament that we
intend to address these problems.”
In his welcome address, the college’s
Commandant, Rear Admiral Samuel Alade, told the graduating participants
that a lot had changed in the polity while they were in the college
since September last year.
Alade therefore urged them to quickly embrace the change mantra as exemplified by Buhari.
While saying the concept of change had
permeated throughout the entire country, he urged the participants to
contribute to its sustenance.
He sought the Federal Government’s support towards the completion of the college’s permanent site.
Alade disclosed that the college had
trained a total of 2001 participants since its inception, including
international military officers.
As part of its regional and
international assignments, he said the Economic Community of West
African States recently tasked the college to research into incessant
herdsmen and farmers’ clash in the region and proffer solutions before
it gets out of hand.
He said Course 24 had 130 participants,
including seven officers from outside the country, adding they had the
privilege, for the first time in the history of NDC, of making a
presentation to Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo.
He said all the participants who started
the course on September 6, 2015 had been adequately trained and are
expected to add value to the society in their various capacities.
Alade added that more foreign countries
are now showing interest in the NDC with 13 countries already showing
interest in Course 25 which will start soon.
A breakdown of the 140 graduating
participants showed that the Nigerian Army contributed 55 participants;
Nigeria Navy, 40; Nigerian Air Force, 12; Nigeria Police, five; Nigerian
Immigration Service, one; National Intelligence Agency, one; and NDC,
one.
Others are Department of Intelligence
Agency, one; Department of State Service, one; Federal Road Safety
Corps, one; Nigerian Prisons Service, one; Nigerian Security and Civil
Defence Corps, one; Ministry of Defence, one; Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, one; and international participants, seven.
Dignitaries who attended the event
included the Emir of Kano, Muhammed Sanusi II; Speaker of the House of
Representatives, Yakubu Dogara; former military Head of State, Gen.
Abdulsalami Abubakar (retd.); service chiefs, members of the Federal
Executive Council and others.
Meanwhile, the presidential candidate of
the KOWA Party in the last general elections, Prof. Oluremi Sonaiya,
and an elder statesman and governor of old Kaduna State, Alhaji Balarabe
Musa, on Friday reacted to Buhari’s admission that he is finding it
difficult to fulfill all his electoral promises.
They said Buhari ought to have vividly studied the true situation of the country before he offered himself to serve.
According to Sonaiya, Buhari’s admission
indicated he did not have the true picture of the situation on ground
before the last general election.
She said the effects of inadequate study
of the situation before Buhari became the President were manifesting in
non-payment of workers’ salaries for many months and economic crisis in
the country.
Sonaiya said, “One should not make
electoral promises without getting the full picture of the situation on
ground. But of course, that is past now. There are some promises one
should not have made. Buhari promised change and I believe that many
Nigerians are still waiting to see the change that the President
promised.
“I was expecting a radical change, but
unfortunately I still have the feeling that Nigerians are continuing
mostly with business as usual.
“There are lots of talks about
corruption and people are being arrested for whatever role they might
have played in the embezzlement of public fund, but it is disheartening
that we have not seen conviction so far. So, how long is this going to
take before we see somebody convicted and sent to prison for
corruption?”
She therefore urged the President to be transparent.
Sonaiya said, “There should be
transparency in his government. How much money is being recovered from
suspected looters? What is difficult in letting Nigerians know?
Otherwise, they will think somebody stole N1bn and N200m is recovered
from him and Nigerians will want to know what happens to the rest of the
money.”
Balarabe Musa asked Nigerians not to doubt Buhari’s admission and described it as unfortunate.
Musa said, “If it is true that he says
he finds it difficult to fulfill all the electoral promises, then, it
means he has admitted that the task is daunting, we should not doubt
what he said.
“The onus is on him to call for the
government of national unity headed by the All Progressives Congress and
involve the remaining political party according to their relevance.”
It will be recalled that in February
2015, prior to his election, Buhari had, at the Chatham House in London,
the United Kingdom, made a wide range of promises to Nigerians.
He promised that his administration
would be tough on terrorism by initiating a comprehensive economic
development plan which promotes infrastructural development, job
creation, agriculture and industrialisation in the affected areas.
Buhari had said, “We will always act on
time and not allow problems to irresponsibly fester, and I, Muhammadu
Buhari, will always lead from the front and return Nigeria to its
leadership role in regional and international efforts to combat
terrorism.”
In the face of dwindling oil revenue, he also said he would reposition the economy by tackling waste and corruption.
He had said, “And in doing this, I will,
if elected, lead the way, with the force of personal example. On
corruption, there will be no confusion as to where I stand. Corruption
will have no place and the corrupt will not be appointed into my
administration.
“I’m running for President to lead
Nigeria to prosperity and not adversity. In reforming the economy, we
will use proceeds recovered from corruption to fund our party’s social
investments programmes in education, health, and safety nets such as
free school meals for children, emergency public works for unemployed
youth and pensions for the elderly.
“As a progressive party, we must reform
our political economy to unleash the pent-up ingenuity and productivity
of the Nigerian people thus freeing them from the curse of poverty.
“We will run a private sector-led
economy, but maintain an active role for government through strong
regulatory oversight and deliberate interventions and incentives to
diversify the base of our economy, strengthen productive sectors,
improve the productive capacities of our people and create jobs for our
teeming youths.
“In short, we will run a functional
economy driven by a worldview that sees growth not as an end by itself,
but as a tool to create a society that works for all, rich and poor
alike.”
The APC, the party on which platform
Buhari was elected President, also promised in its manifestoes to bring
permanent peace and solution to the Niger Delta and other conflict prone
areas, initiate policies to ensure the removal of state of origin,
tribe, ethnic and religious affiliations and replace them with state of
residence.
Also, the party said it would guarantee a
minimum price for selected crops and facilitate storage of agricultural
products as and when necessary, while creating a food inspectorate
division nationwide with a view to improving nutrition and eliminating
food-borne hazards in the country.