Fellow Nigerians, I am particularly proud and fulfilled as a Nigerian that contrary to the postulations of cynics, we have proven that we can indeed be one united nation, driven by purpose and commitment to act as one in defence of our country’s democracy, a democracy that assures every citizen of fair representation and a voice at the table of decision.
In assuming office as your president, I am not unaware of the avoidable acrimony and even violence in some places, that accompanied the political campaigns, voting and ultimate resolution at the Election Tribunals across the country. I however draw strength and reassurance in my conviction that just like the rest of us, here on this platform, you share the same passionate desire for a better country, a thriving economy, a safe, functional social life and fair, visionary leadership.
This type of leadership was my campaign promise, a promise I intend to keep. This is my pledge to you, fellow Nigerians, and so help me God.
We are committed to the utmost respect for the rule of law and develop our institutions to their full potentials that are beyond cult personalities, cliques and manipulations. They must all outlive us. We will evenly apply the law ensuring equal access to justice and not permit anyone or office to act above the law. Anyone who flouts the laws of the country shall be exposed to the full authority of the law, irrespective of station, association, or nationality. It is the last hope of the people.
Time is short and over years of waste, indecisive economic agendas and unsolicited interference in almost every facet of our national life, we have fallen behind in growing our peculiar brand of political ideology, economic development, technology, youth development and we have almost entirely lost our cultures that separated us from everyone else and made so special. However, hope is not lost and it is that message of hope I bring you today as I take office as your president and leader.
Today, I will sign an Executive Order declaring a State of Emergency in the education sector and another in the health sector. This will serve our more immediate purposes in rejuvenating the two sectors while we send the Bills to the National Assembly to review the priorities of the two sectors. The Executive Order On Education Reforms will increase spending in education with focus on reviewing our national curriculum bringing the sector into the twenty-first century. We cannot continue to teach rhetoric when the world has moved to hands-on, practical education and raising industry leaders for a tomorrow that many are already living.
Our objective is to become a knowledge-based economy in ten years. That match can only be led by the young. We will, therefore, carry out an urgent and honest census of our educational institutions, public and private, review and harmonize our curriculum to ensure that every child, irrespective of location or class, has non-discriminatory access to uniform quality education, aimed at producing high quality young people who will in turn inspire the generation after them.
We anticipate that it is this generation that will ultimately answer our unemployment question as they will be schooled in enterprise, irrespective of professional competence. It will not happen at the break of dawn, we have to be patient, understanding that day will surely break and there will be a tomorrow. Our eyes are firmly fixed on that tomorrow when we shall arise as a nation, under one banner, proud equal to any in the world. That generation we hope to build will firmly believe that there is dignity in labour, happiness in freedom, and honour in valour; they will rebuild our ruins and create new industries, attract the interest of the world and be fulfilled in the knowledge that the world that used to doubt us now considers us one of the best equipped, most knowledgeable workforce in the world.
The health indices of a people are a direct reflection of the overall health of the nation. It is a popular sarcasm that we have more competent medical doctors working in active medicine outside Nigeria than we have within. The government must, as a matter of conscience and urgency, take immediate surgical steps to revamp the entire sector, public and private. We must act in ways in our medical schools and the rest of the medical delivery chain in a manner that creatively reinvents medical practice. We look forward to the news of medical breakthroughs in pharmaceuticals, diagnosis, innovative treatment and I promise you here that we shall stand by you in supporting the process.
If together, we do what is right, we can free enough financial resources in this same system to raise budgetary allocation to twenty-eight percent and twenty-five percent to medicine without impacting our natural responsibilities in defense and border security, infrastructural development, power and others.
The cost of governance in our country is extremely high, eating away at resources we can devote to more practically develop our nation. I will, therefore, propose a series of Bills to the National Assembly to consider a review and automation of the civil service system that will release able men and women to more productive endeavours; a review of the Constitution to enable us adopt a single but truly representative Parliament that will also heavily reduce that cost; stricter concessions terms for government assets being run and may be run by the private sector so that we can indeed hold them responsible in protection of the public they are intended to serve.
The government must, as a matter of urgency, review remuneration to its functionaries beginning with the office of the President to the lowest elective office holder so that the reward of the leaders reflect the realities of the people.
I am committed to this and affirm today that I will lead the way in this regard. I am hopeful that our elected representatives will work with us to run a government that is sensitive to the people.
We have only four years, God willing, in office but in those four years, our youth shall be treated as the priority that they are, our future. They constitute the largest non-tribal, non-religious portion of our demography and as is fair, should not be relegated anymore.
We acknowledge that by all indices, the private sector probably knows more about human capital development than we do. They have done it for many years and have had to make critical decisions that are tied to the survival of their businesses. We shall encourage the private sector to bring its expertise on our vision to develop the Nigerian youth that is employable not just here but anywhere in the world. Young Nigerians who have been mentored in competence, boundless creative energies, daring, honour and selflessness. Young Nigerians who, though proud of their ethnic history, understand that far above all, is their Nigerian nationality. We shall build pride into our nationality again that the world, as a matter of acknowledgment, will have to respect.
The private sector shall be enabled through deliberately designed policies and laws, to lead in our march from a single-product, oil economy to an investment haven in agriculture, education and health tourism, entertainment, manufacture and technology.
To this end, we will reassess the functions, composition, effectiveness and vision of all existing government agencies, boards, groups and personnel and where necessary, reconstitute them in conjunction with the private sector, into more responsive, more visionary outfits, mainly focused on advisory responsibilities, formulating globally sensitive policies, emergency response capabilities in relevant sectors and constant review of their watch.
I trust that the practitioners of the Fourth Realm, the Nigerian Press, shall again, as they have done at some times in our history, be responsible, fair and investigative. I give you my word, on honour today, that we shall not interfere with, restrict or victimize the press in any way. Your freedom shall not be tampered with trusting that you, in return, will appreciate the power and reach of your reportage and the effect it can have on our national safety and security as well as global perception of us.
We are under no illusion that we have the perfect answer to our challenges; we may even aspire to things that are beyond our reach but as it is said, ‘aim for the Sun, if you fail, who knows, you may land on Mars’.
We will also not assume that the world will support us, after all, in the world of diplomacy, we may only try, those who will not agree still will not, for there are no permanent friends, only permanent interests. Our international relations goal shall be to lift our nation into global affluence and influence; to insist on a voice in matters that directly or indirectly concern us; guarantee the safety, security and fair treatment of all our citizens anywhere they may be in the world; and in attaining these objectives, ensure the maintenance of warm relations with our old friends who share our values and dreams, and cultivate new ones whose vision align and are helpful to ours.
I know little of rugby as a game but I have seen how one player carries the other, no matter the weight or height, to catch the ball. This is the new Nigeria I see, one man holding out a helping hand to the other, no matter ethnicity, religious conviction or social standing, till each is lifted, into new opportunities, new hope, new vision, new life. That is the Nigeria that I put myself forward to help create. However, this is a democracy and we cannot do anything by fiat. Those days are thankfully behind us. The nights may be long but day shall surely break and I look forward to your cooperation, not just to this government as we go on the march again but to your fellow Nigerian, wherever on the face of the earth they may be.
This is our announcement, that the Great Lion of Africa has arisen and we shall not be stopped.
Our trust is in God.
God bless you.
God Bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The President
Federal Republic of Nigeria.
- BIMBO MANUEL, Feb 2019
