President Muhammadu Buhari started on a good note after his swearing in on Friday with his well thought out inaugural speech. Here is my take on four of the major issues he raised in the address.
I belong to everybody and I belong to nobody
Considering the divisive nature of the presidential campaign and the animosity generated by the outcome, especially the part of supporters, President Buhari needs to assure Nigerians that he would serve as President for all Nigerians and not the candidate of any party.
Much as he cannot completely ignore his party and those who played major roles in his election, the interest of the country has to be more paramount in taking decisions and implementing his policies. Those who did not vote for him as he rightly noted contributed to making our democratic culture truly competitive, strong and definitive and should not be denied whatever they are entitled to.
He should not allow himself to become prisoner of any group; political, religious and ethnic in the discharge of his duties. Those who think they own him will not be dissuaded by this statement; it is left to him to prove that he is a man of his own conviction based on the national interest of the country.
We can fix our problems
The problems confronting the country at this point in our history are indeed enormous but not insurmountable if the new government has the political will to do what is needed.
Issues of insecurity, corruption, power shortage, unemployment and many more require urgent attention which Buhari has promised to tackle headlong. The problems are the outcome of years of maladministration which requires the right policy direction to fix them.
Nigerians are expectant of a major change in the administration of the country through the fixing of the problems. President Buhari and his team cannot afford not to live up to the expectations of the people.
We have both human and material resources which should be appropriately deployed. The right and capable persons should be given appointments instead of appointments based on political considerations only.
I am ready to listen to grievances of my fellow Nigerians
If there is any section of the country that should feel a sense of personal loss in the defeat of former President Goodluck Jonathan, it is the Niger Delta where he hails from. There were initial fears that the militants from the area who are worried about the end of the amnesty programme in December may return to the creeks and engage in ‘economic sabotage’ like they have done in the past.
Promising to listen to their grievances and invest heavily in on-going projects and programmes areas is a good way to indicate that he has not taken them for granted and would be open to suggestions on how to address the problems in the area.
We cannot claim to have defeated Boko Haram without rescuing Chibok girls and other hostages
The battle against Boko Haram is far from being over despite the recent successes recorded by the Nigerian military forces. For all we know they may have retreated to launch back in a more devastating way. What is needed is that they are totally subdued like Buhari stated with the rescue of the girls and other hostages. Being a soldier himself, Buhari should know better on how to fight this kind of war.
If relocating the command and control centre of the military onslaught to Maiduguri will ensure total victory so be it.