ABUJA – Thirty-two years after he was booted out as military head of state through a palace coup, democratic born again (retired General) Muhammadu Buhari was yesterday was sworn in as the fourth President and Commander-In-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces since inception of the Fourth Republic of Nigeria on May 29, 1999.
The 72 years old President Buhari has described himself as a “converted democrat” and vowed to lead an administration committed to the needs of Nigeria’s 173 million people by cracking down on the scourge of corruption.
The oath taking ceremony that was sandwiched with applause from the audience and admixture of military pomp and cultural tradition marks the beginning of a four-year term in which he has promised tackling insecurity, unemployment, and corruption among others.
Before taking the oath, he shook hands with the elected president he ousted in 1983, Alhaji Shehu Shagari, and the general who deposed him 20 months later, Ibrahim Babangida.
The President swore before the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Mahmoud Mohammed: “I, Muhammadu Buhari, do solemnly swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to the Federal Republic of Nigeria”; “that as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I will discharge my duties to the best of my ability and in accordance with the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the law.”
Meanwhile, if inaugural speech by President Buhari is anything to go by, ethnic politicians would have to rethink their tribal ideology and adopt a wholesome strategy that would make Nigeria their priority and interest.
This follows President Muhammadu Buhari’s emphatic declaration that his government is for every Nigerian, stressing: “I belong to everybody and I belong to nobody.”
President Buhari also acknowledged that his administration was inheriting a country facing crises on several fronts: from severe economic turmoil to Boko Haram’s raging Islamist insurgency, but asserted “we can fix our problems”.
“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”, he continued.
He described Boko Haram as “a mindless, godless group, who are as far away from Islam as one can think,” adding that the government under his watch intend to commission sociological studies to determine the remote and immediate causes of the Boko Haram crisis,
President Buhari further promised to recover the Chibok girls taken hostage by the insurgents over a year ago and directed immediate relocation of the Command Centre of the Military in fight against insurgency from Abuja to Maiduguri, Borno State, the Islamists stronghold, noting, “victory cannot be achieved from a command and control centre in Abuja”.
The president however assured that rules of engagement in the fight against insurgency would be overhauled to void human right violation.
“He also acknowledged that “he amnesty programme in the Niger Delta is due to end in December” but that “the Government intends to invest heavily in the projects, and programmes currently in place”.
To this end, President Buhari enjoined “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”, he added.
Moreso, President Buhari described the power situation in Nigeria as a national shame, especially as over $20billion spent on the power sector since 1999 had only brought misery to Nigerians, adding, “we shall think of way to revive our industry to cut down on the rate of unemployment.”
Assuring that “we shall rebuild the public service to become more serviceable”, he promised not to encroach on Legislative and Judiciary arms of Government, but noted that “judicial system needs reform to cleanse itself from its immediate past”; while “the legislative arm must keep to their brief of making laws, carrying out over-sight functions and doing so expeditiously”.
“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.
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”, President Buhari continued.
President Buhari goes down in history as the leader of the first opposition to win victory over a sitting president in Nigeria.

Related News