As Buhari’s Inaugural Speech Continues To Resonate Far Too Wide • Comments, Reactions Swell

SEVEN days after the  inauguration of Muhammadu Buhari as President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal republic of Nigeria, Nigerians are still reacting to his inaugural speech. While some describe the  speech as a masterpiece, rich in content and an enterprise in creating hope, others say it has become a window of how the Buhari administration intends to minister to the needs of Nigerians and what he intends to do to take the country to the next level.
A political scientist at the Federal Polytechnic, Birnin Kebbi, Dr. Bala Kabir, described the inaugural speech of President Muhammadu Buhari as inspirational.
He said that the pronouncement on the relocation of the military command centre to Maiduguri had brought relief to people in the affected areas and beyond.
He said that the speech also gave assurance to the expected leadership role the country would take in the sub region, adding that it expressed determination to revive Nigeria’s leadership role.
“The President also assured independence to the legislative and judicial arms of government which would offer Nigerians the legal ground to hold him accountable in case of any deviation.
“The pronouncements on a study on the immediate and remote causes of the boko Haram will provide avenue to prevent future emergence of such violent groups that is proactive,” he said.
A social critic, Ahmad Umar, said that the speech had shown that Buhari would work with stakeholders to entrench democracy considering that “he is now a civilian.”
“His determination to lead by example and without fear or favour shows that he would not condone unconstitutional actions, especially by states and local government areas,” he added.
Assessing the speech in its editorial comment of May 31st 2015, the Vanguard wrote.
“As inaugural speeches go, President Mohammadu Buhari’s presentation achieved a lot through sand bites that sketched the strands of change while sketching responsibilities change entails. It was a great speech in more ways than a literary exchange. It was a feast of words, an enterprise in creating hope, a labour in extricating change from chaos.
Where Nigeria is, simple sufferings heighten the expectations of change. The fuel scarcity of the past few weeks remind us of the political crisis of decades ago, when strikes were thrown into demands for change. Today, the realities of change are different, even different.”
All aspects of us await change. Buhari tried itemizing the immediate demands of change. It was a necessary exercise to give a hint about the direction of the administration. The carriers of change are lost in a labyrinth of words that will be remembered more for it’s impact for Buhair’s young administration than as a compass for its journey that is filled with expectations of the dividends of change.
Buhari for his own good, and commendably too, has ceased to be belligerent. His speech brought rare grace to the office, accommodating the efforts of others, including his predecessor, Goodluck Jonathan. It seems Buhari’s would be an inclusive government, if it intends to seek broad solutions to Nigeria’s challenges.
“Away from the fiery campaigns that painted bold strokes of solutions to the challenges, Buhari was more reticent, speaking in broader terms than the bolder offerings of the campaigns. Specific deadlines in his campaigns for welfare programmes for the unemployed disappeared. In their place were more coherent sands that the responsibility for change was everybody’s.
Perhaps, these account for everyone clinging to its most resonating line, “I belong to everybody. I belong to nobody.” Buhari did not want to be elaborate about issues of independence of his government or his personal determination to run on his own. If he intended to douse fears that sponsors of change would not decide the course of change, he succeeded in heightening fears of his understanding about practicalities of democratic governance.
Buhari belongs to an enlarged family of political associates, military colleagues, classmates who have discovered him, and new friends who always await men of power. The earlier he identifies the demands of each on his administration, the earlier he would be able to belong to everybody.”
“It’s the best inaugural speech in Nigeria’s political history” – Wahab Shittu, human rights lawyer.
“My take on the President’s speech is that it is the best inaugural speech in Nigeria’s political history, given the challenges Nigeria is currently faced with. Most fundamentally, the speech captures the essence of the major ills confronting the country, such as insecurity, pervasiveness of corruption, parlous state of the economy, lack of power and unemployment and how the government under his watch would tackle these challenges.
The President also went down memory lane and spoke about the nation’s founding fathers, their vision, contribution and aspirations for the country, while relating it to the failure of successive leaders to build on legacy bequeathed by the heroes of our independence.
“His declaration that he is for everybody and not for anybody is also very commendable My interpretation of this is that he is going to run an all inclusive government devoid of partisanship and not be a stooge to anybody. What that also means is that the entire country is his constituency.
“On his decision not to witch-hunt anyone or settle old scores, no one should interpret that to mean that the President would not probe proven cases of corruption because really not settling scores should not mean that clear cases of abuse of office in the immediate past administration would not be investigated.
“The President made a categorical statement on the direction of his government to tackling the menace of Boko Hara in the North-East. By ordering the immediate relocation of the military command structure to the region is very critical and underscores the importance he is attaching to solving the problem once and for all.”
“What also impressed me is his statement that after the terrorists have been completely subdued, the government would conduct a sociological study on the remote and immediate causes of insurgency, its foreign links and funding with a view to preventing such groups from springing up in the future.”
His decision that militancy in the Niger Delta would also be accorded priority attention was also very commendable. In all, the speech was very reassuring, detailed enough, well thought out and well delivered.
It is a very good beginning’ – Okorie Chekwas Okorie is a top politician and UPP Presidential candidate in the 2015 elections.
“The speech captured the major expectations of many informed Nigerians. It started by laying strong foundation on how his democratic profile will be defined when he said he belonged to nobody and belonged to everybody. The assurance implicit in that statement is the fact that he does not have strings attached and that he is not obligated to political investors or cliques that may lay claim to his ascendancy as president. He also reassured all those who may have hurt him in the past that he will not embark in settling scores. It was a very good beginning in the inaugural speech of this nature to prepare and that he will be focused on leadership of the re-construction and service delivery.
His comments on security situation and directive for the command and control centre of the military to relocate to the theatre of the battle in Borno proved his seriousness and determination to tackle the Boko Haram insurgency.
He also described Boko Haram in the strongest terms, which is to show Nigerians that there is nothing Islamic in Boko Haram. That has proved skeptics wrong who had insinuated that he had sympathy for the group on the basis of religious sentiment.
Also re-assuring is the indication that revenue allocation to local governments will not be hijacked by state governments as has been the case over the years.
He did not leave out the more worrisome energy and power supply sector, oil and gas, anti-corruption measures, creation of jobs and employment opportunities.
I want to point out that I feel really glad that he assured the people of Niger Delta that all contracts and other commitments made by the outgoing government to develop the Niger Delta area would be continued by his government. It goes to show that he belongs to all. However, I am about worried that the continued neglect of infrastructural development and federal presence in the area were missing. I want to sieze this opportunity to inform President Buhari that the entire people of South-East still feel, and for good reasons, that the three “Rs’ – Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Reconciliation- promised by the Gowon government in 1970, after the war, has been observed in the breach. We therefore expect that in the change that Nigerians expect, it will help national cohesion and harmony if the peculiar circumstances of the people of the South-East Zone receive the special attention and presidential dispensation of the Buhari leadership.
“It shows his commitment to survival and unity of Nigeria’ – Dele.
Hon. Kosoko Dele, is an APC chieftain in Lagos State and former member of House of Representatives.
The speech shows President Muhammadu Buhari’s commitment to the survival and unity of Nigeria. He succinctly identified the problems of the country and gave priority to the major issues like power, energy, security and fight against corruption because they are very vital to our economic survival.
I consider the President’s inaugural speech as very powerful. No wonder even international leaders have commended it.
‘It’s a ray of hope, says human rights lawyer Fred Agbaje.
It is a very inspiring and commendable speech, which gives one a ray of hope that the new government is ready to hit the ground running. I have no doubt that the President will walk his talk, because he is known to be a man of his words.
Relocating the military high command to the North-East should be applauded. One of the colossal mistakes made by the Goodluck Jonathan led government was on the bungling of the fight against insurgency in that region.
The resultant effect of this irresponsibility is the escalation of the activities of the Boko Haram group in the last four years, with thousands of lives lost and millions of people displaced from their homes. Our soldiers were also not well motivated and became highly demoralised.
But now, the service chiefs have been directed to relocate to the region, the battle has now been taken to the door steps of the Boko Haram, which I believe could lead to the quick resolution of the insurgency.”