As Nigeria marks her 55th independence anniversary today, President Muhammadu Buhari, has called on Nigerians to join hands with his administration to bring about the desired change in the country.
President Buhari made the call in a nationwide broadcast earlier today (Thursday).
Also, the President disclosed that in addition to Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), he has ordered a complete audit of other revenue generating agencies particularly the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Customs, and Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) for better service delivery to the nation.
Buhari stressed that change does not just happen and that all Nigerians have a part to play to bring about change.
His words: “Change does not just happen. You and I and all of us must appreciate that we all have our part to play if we want to bring change about. We must change our lawless habits, our attitude to public office and public trust.
“We must change our unruly behaviour in schools, hospitals, market places, motor parks, on the roads, in homes and offices. To bring about change, we must change ourselves by being law-abiding citizens”, the President said.
He restated his position during his inaugural speech on May 29 that he has no axe to grind with anyone on past events, stressing that nobody should fear anything from him.
“As I said in my inaugural speech, I bear no ill will against anyone on past events. Nobody should fear anything from me. We are not after anyone. People should only fear the consequences of their actions. I hereby invite everyone, whatever his or her political view to join me in working for the nation”, Buhari said.
He explained that just like every new government, his administration also inherited problems, saying that what was important was to find the best solution to solve the problems.
The President said: “My country men and women, every new government inherits problems. Ours was no different. But what Nigerians want are solutions, quick solutions not a recitation of problems inherited.
“Accordingly, after consultations with the Vice President, senior party leaders and other senior stakeholders, I quickly got down to work on the immediate, medium-term and long-term problems which we must solve if we are to maintain the confidence which Nigerians so generously bestowed on us in the March elections and since then”
Buhari explained that in order to find solutions to some of the problems confronting the country, he toured the neighbouring countries, marshal a coalition of armed forces of the five nations to confront and defeat Boko Haram.
The President said that he also met the G7 leaders and other friendly Presidents in an effort to build an international coalition against Boko Haram.
He noted that the armed forces under new leadership have taken the battle to the insurgents, and severely weakened their logistical and infrastructural capabilities.
According to him, Boko Haram insurgents are being scattered and are on the run, saying that their shameless attacks on soft targets such as Internally Displaced Persons camps was indicative of their cowardice and desperation.
The President added that he had instructed security and local authorities to tighten vigilance in vulnerable places.
On power, Buhari said government officials have held a series of long sessions over several weeks about the best way to improve the nation’s power supply in the safest and most cost effective way.
He noted that improvement in the power supply was moderately encouraging while by the same token, supply of petrol and kerosene to the public has improved throughout the country.
Buhari pointed out that all the early signs are that within months the whole country would begin to feel a change for the better.
The President also said preliminary steps have been taken to sanitise the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and improve its operations so that the inefficiency and corruption could be reduced to a minimum.
He stated that refineries which can be serviced and brought back into partial production would be enabled to resume operations so that the whole sordid business of exporting crude and importing finished products in dubious transactions could be stopped.
The President further said: “In addition to NNPC, I have ordered for a complete audit of our other revenue generating agencies mainly CBN, FIRS, Customs, NCC, for better service delivery to the nation.
“Prudent housekeeping is needed now more than ever in view of the sharp decline in world market oil prices. It is a challenge we have to face squarely. But what counts is not so much what accrues but how we manage our resources that is important.
“We have seen in the last few years how huge resources were mismanaged, squandered and wasted. The new APC government is embarking on a clean-up, introducing prudence and probity in public financing.
“At an early stage, the federal government addressed the issue of salary arrears in many states, a situation capable of degenerating into social unrest. The APC government stepped in to provide short-term support to the owing states and enabled them to pay off the backlog and restore the livelihood of millions of Nigerians”, he added.
The President said God had blessed that country with many gifts as the ninth most populated country on the planet, stressing that the nation was also rich in arable land, water, forests oil and gas, coastline and Solid minerals
“We have all the attributes of a great nation. We are not there yet because the one commodity we have been unable to exploit to the fullest is unity of purpose. This would have enabled us to achieve not only more orderly political evolution and integration but also continuity and economic progress.
“Countries far less endowed have made greater economic progress by greater coherence and unity of purpose.
“Nonetheless, that we have remained together is an achievement we should all appreciate and try to consolidate.
“We have witnessed this year a sea change in our democratic development. The fact that an opposition party replaced an entrenched government in a free and fair election is indicative of the deeper roots of our democratic system
“Whatever one’s views are, Nigerians must thank former President Jonathan for not digging-in in the face of defeat and thereby saving the country untold consequences”, he said.
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