Full text of President Buhari’s Democracy speech – TheNigerialawyer

ADDRESS BY H.E PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI AT THE 2019
NATIONAL DEMOCRACY DAY AT THE EAGLE SQUARE, ABUJA

12TH JUNE 2019

Protocols

All Praise is due to GOD Almighty Who spared our lives to be
present at this great occasion. We give thanks also that the
democratic process has been further entrenched and
strengthened.

2. Twenty years ago, a democratically elected government took
over from the military in a historic transfer of political power
for our country.

3. Today, we are privileged to mark the longest period of
unbroken democratic leadership and 5th peaceful transfer of power
from one democratically elected government to another in
Nigeria.

4. Throughout the last four years, I respected the independence
of INEC. I ensured that INEC got all the resources it needed for
independent and impartial management of elections in the
country.

5. All interested parties are agreed that the recent elections,
which except for pockets of unrest, were free, fair and
peaceful.

6. I thank all the people who worked for our party, who
campaigned and who voted for us. I thank my fellow Nigerians, who,
since 2003 have consistently voted for me.

7. Victory is your greatest reward; peace, unity and greater
prosperity will be our collective legacy.

Your Excellencies, Fellow Nigerians,

8. I and Nigerians collectively must give adequate thanks to our
Armed Forces, Police and other law enforcing agencies for working
round the clock to protect us by putting themselves in harm’s way
and defending our values and protecting our future.

9. Terrorism and insecurity are worldwide phenomena and even the
best policed countries are experiencing increasing incidents of
unrest and are finding things hard to cope.

10. The principal thrust of this new Administration is to
consolidate on the achievements of the last four years, correct the
lapses inevitable in all human endeavors and tackle the new
challenges the country is faced with and chart a bold plan for
transforming Nigeria.

11. Fellow Nigerians, I have had the privilege of free education
from Primary school to Staff College to War College.

12. I received my formative education in Katsina and Kaduna and
my higher education in England, India and the United States.

13. I have worked and served in Kaduna, Lagos, Abeokuta,
Makurdi, Port Harcourt, Maiduguri, Ibadan, Jos and finally here in
Abuja. Throughout my adult life, I have been a public servant. I
have no other career but public service. I know no service but
public service.

14. I was involved at close quarters in the struggle to keep
Nigeria one. I can therefore do no more than dedicate the rest of
my life to work for the unity of Nigeria and upliftment of
Nigerians.

15. In 2002-2003 campaigns and elections, I travelled by road to
34 of the 36 states of the Federation. This year I travelled by air
to all 36 states of the Federation.

16. Before and during my time in the Armed Forces and in
government, I have interacted with Nigerians of all ages and
persuasions and different shades of opinion over a period of more
than fifty years.

17. And my firm belief is that our people above all want to live
in peace and harmony with their fellow Nigerians. They desire
opportunity to better themselves in a safe environment.

18. Most of the instances of inter-communal and inter-religious
strife and violence were and are still as a result of sponsorship
or incitements by ethnic, political or religious leaders hoping to
benefit by exploiting our divisions and fault lines, thereby
weakening our country.

19. And our country Nigeria is a great country. According to
United Nations estimates, our population will rise to 411 million
by 2050, making us the third most populous nation on earth behind
only China and India.

20. We have water, arable land, forests, oil and gas and vast
quantities of solid minerals. We are blessed with an equable
climate. However, the bulk of our real wealth lies in Agriculture,
Livestock, Forestry and Mining. We possess all the ingredients of a
major economic power on the world stage.

21. What we require is the will to get our acts together. And
our strength is in our people – our youth, our culture, our
resilience, our ability to succeed despite the odds.

22. A huge responsibility therefore rests on this and succeeding
Administrations to develop, harness and fulfil our enormous
potential into a force to be reckoned with globally.

23. Thus far, we Nigerians can be proud of our history since
Independence in 1960. We have contributed to UN peace-keeping
responsibilities all over the world; we have stabilized Liberia,
Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast and two years ago we prevented the Gambia
from degenerating into anarchy.

24. Without Nigerian influence and resources, the liberation of
Angola, Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe and ultimately South Africa
would have come at greater cost. This fact had been attested by
none other than the late Nelson Mandela himself.

25. Elsewhere, Nigeria is the Big Brother to our neighbours. We
are the shock-absorber of the West African sub-region, the bulwark
of ECOWAS and Lake Chad Basin Commission. We can therefore be proud
to be Nigerians. We must continue to be Good Neighbours and Good
Global Citizens.

26. At home, we have been successful in forging a nation from
different ethnicities and language groups: our evolution and
integration into one nation continues apace.

27. When, therefore we came to office in 2015 after a decade of
struggle we identified three cardinal and existential challenges
our country faced and made them our campaign focus, namely
security, economy and fighting corruption.

28. None but the most partisan will dispute that in the last
four years we have made solid progress in addressing these
challenges.

29. When I took the oath of office on 29 May 2015, insecurity
reigned. Apart from occupying 18 local governments in the North
East, Boko Haram could at will attack any city including the
Federal Capital, could threaten any institution including bombing
the United Nations building and Police Headquarters in Abuja.

30. Admittedly, some of the challenges still remain in
kidnappings and banditry in some rural areas. The great difference
between 2015 and today is that we are meeting these challenges with
much greater support to the security forces in terms of money,
equipment and improved local intelligence. We are meeting these
challenges with superior strategy, firepower and resolve.

31. In face of these challenges, our Government elected by the
people in 2015 and re-elected in March has been mapping out
policies, measures and laws to maintain our unity and at the same
time lift the bulk of our people out of poverty and onto the road
to prosperity.

32. This task is by no means unattainable. China has done it.
India has done it. Indonesia has done it. Nigeria can do it. These
are all countries characterized by huge burdens of population.

33. China and Indonesia succeeded under authoritarian regimes.
India succeeded in a democratic setting. We can do it.

34. With leadership and a sense of purpose, we can lift 100
million Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years.

35. Following the 60 percent drop in oil prices between 2015 and
2016, through monetary and fiscal measures, we stimulated economic
growth, curbed inflation and shored up our external reserves.

36. We now have witnessed 8 quarters of positive growth in the
economy and our GDP is expected to grow by 2.7 percent this
year.

37. Furthermore, our external reserves have risen to $45 billion
enough to finance over 9 months of current import commitments.

38. This Administration is laying the foundation and taking bold
steps in transforming our country and liberating our people from
the shackles of poverty.

39. First, we will take steps to integrate rural economies to
the national economic “grid” by extending access to small-scale
credits and inputs to rural farmers, credit to rural
micro-businesses and opening up many critical feeder roads.

40. Secondly, for small-scale enterprises in towns and cities,
we shall expand facilities currently available so that we continue
to encourage and support domestic production of basic goods and
reduce our reliance of imported goods as I will outline later.

41. For the next four years, we will remain committed to
improving the lives of people by consolidating efforts to address
these key issues as well as emerging challenges of climate change,
resettling displaced communities and dealing decisively with the
new flashes of insecurity across the country, and the impacts on
food scarcity and regional stability.

42. We are not daunted by the enormity of the tasks ahead.
Instead, we are revived by this new mandate to work collaboratively
with State and Local Governments, Legislators, the Diplomatic Corps
and all Nigerians to rebuild and reposition our country as the
heartbeat and reference point for our continent.

43. Fellow Nigerians, Your Excellencies, Ladies &
Gentlemen:

a. Despite the enormous resources pledged to infrastructure
development these past four years, there remains the urgent need to
modernize our roads and bridges, electricity grid, ports and rail
systems.

b. Whilst agriculture and industrial output have recovered since
the recession, we are more committed than ever to work with the
private sector to improve productivity and accelerate economic
growth.

c. The Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index which is the
gauge of manufacturing activity in the country has also risen for
26 consecutive months since March 2017 indicating continuous growth
and expansion in our manufacturing sector.

d. It still takes too long for goods to clear at our seaports
and the roads leading to them are congested. It still takes too
long for routine and regulatory approvals to be secured. These
issues affect our productivity and we are committed to addressing
them permanently.

e. Our Government will continue work to reduce social and
economic inequality through targeted social investment programs,
education, technology and improved information.

f. Our social intervention programs are a model for other
nations. Together with state governments, we provide millions of
school children with meals in primary schools, micro loans to
traders and entrepreneurs, skills and knowledge acquisition support
to graduates and of course, conditional cash transfers to the
poorest and most vulnerable in our society.

g. A database of poor and vulnerable households is being
carefully built based on age, gender, disability, educational
levels for proper planning in this Administration’s war against
poverty.

h. A database of unemployed but qualified youth has also been
developed under the National Social Investment Programme which can
be used by the public and private sectors for recruitment purposes.
Cumulatively, nearly 2 million beneficiaries have received aid
under this Programme apart from Anchors Borrowers Programme and
School Feeding initiative each reaching 2 million recipients. And
we will do more. Much more.

44. Fellow Nigerians, Your Excellencies, Ladies & Gentlemen,
we know that there exists a strong correlation between economic
inequality and insecurity.

45. When economic inequality rises, insecurity rises. But when
we actively reduce inequality through investments in social and
hard infrastructure, insecurity reduces.

46. The disturbing increase in rates of kidnapping, banditry and
other criminal activities can be attributed to the decades of
neglect and corruption in social investment, infrastructure
development, education and healthcare.

47. This issue is further compounded by the impact of our
changing climate and ecology.

48. The ECOWAS and Sahel regions, starting from Chad all the way
to Mali, are also experiencing adverse impacts of drought and
desertification, which have triggered waves of human displacement;
conflicts between farmers and herdsmen; terrorism; and a
fundamental socio-economic change to our way of life.

49. These issues are regional and not unique to Nigeria alone.
The problems call for increased regional and international
cooperation in developing a sustainable solution.

50. As Chairman of ECOWAS, I will be hosting a regional security
summit of heads of states in the Sahel to develop a Joint Strategy
to continue our efforts in addressing these issues.

51. Fellow Nigerians, Your Excellencies, Ladies & Gentlemen,
at the heart of inequality and insecurity, is pervasive corruption.
When we took office we realised that if you fight corruption,
corruption will fight back – and we have seen this at all
levels.

52. For Nigeria to progress, a collective resolution to address
corruption and foster broad-based prosperity is required to create
a country that is not only for a few privileged, but for all
Nigerians.

53. This charge is not only to Civil Servants, Ministers,
Legislators and State Government functionaries, but also to
Corporate leaders.

54. We shall make greater investments in our rural economies. We
shall aggressively source locally our raw materials.

55. We have incentives for investments specifically made in
rural communities.

56. However, nationwide development cannot occur from Abuja
alone; it must occur at States. And Government cannot do it
alone.

57. I therefore implore all State Governments, especially those
with large rural economies, to aggressively solicit investments in
your states. Invest in developing human capital, reducing
bureaucracy and corruption, hosting and attending investment
summits and improving the ease of doing business.

58. At this point, I would like to express my sincere gratitude
to the entrepreneurs, investors and venture capitalists who have
built or are building agro-processing projects; petrochemical
plants; crude oil and solid mineral refineries; energy exploration;
software development projects; telecom infrastructure; health,
education and manufacturing projects; and the like, across our
country.

59. I would like to make special mention to promoters of our
small businesses that are proudly making goods and services for
export and for local consumption. The Nigerian economy rises and
falls on the strength of your investments and productivity.

60. We will continue to listen to your ideas and plans not just
about how we can secure more investment, but how your plans can
help create a more equitable economy.

61. I also thank the labour unions, farmer groups and
associations, organized private sector and the civil society
organisations for their support and cooperation with our government
these last four years.

62. We will continue to count on your support, guidance and
understanding during the next four years.

63. I especially thank our traditional leaders and congratulate
re-elected and newly elected State Governors and members of the
National Assembly. Our Government will continue to count on your
support so that we can together move our country forward.

64. Fellow Nigerians, Your Highnesses, Your Excellencies, Ladies
& Gentlemen, despite the challenges over the last four years,
my optimism about Nigeria’s future is unshaken and Nigeria’s role
in the world as an emerging economic force is without a doubt.

65. Over the next four years, we are committed to assembling a
strong team of Nigerians, and allies, to implement our
transformative plans and proposals.

a. We will see significant focus, resource and, where necessary
reform, in tertiary and technical education to reposition Nigeria’s
workforce for the modern technological age.

b. We will accelerate investments in primary, secondary and
tertiary healthcare programs, interventions and infrastructure as
well as in upgrading of our medical personnel to stem the flight of
our best trained people.

c. On food security, our farmers have made great strides in
local production of rice, maize, cassava, poultry, fertilizer,
fisheries and sesame. We remain resolute in supporting private
sector in emphasizing backward integration and export expansion
plans.

d. Felling of trees to provide energy for domestic use is taking
its toll on our rain forests, our ecology and our climate.
Accordingly, we are taking steps to harness cleaner and more
sustainable sources of electricity. We export over 2 million tons
of cooking gas, yet we consume less than half a million tons.

e. We will work to address this issue and support rural
communities with challenges of safely switching from firewood to
cooking gas.

f. Dedicated agro-industrial processing zones will be developed
on a PPP basis to increase farming yields, agricultural
productivity and industrial output.

g. Over 2,000 kilometers of ongoing Federal road and bridge
projects across the country will be completed to reduce journey
times and the cost of doing business. As I mentioned earlier,
critical feeder roads will be built to facilitate easier
transportation for people and goods from rural areas to major
roads.

h. We are at advanced stages of securing investments to
modernize and expand our transmission and distribution
infrastructure, ensuring that electricity is available and
affordable for all Nigerians.

i. Several rail, seaport and airport projects are at various
stages of completion. We will open the arteries of transportation
nationwide.

j. It is a fact that Nigeria has more gas reserves than it has
oil. Over the last four years, we have become a net exporter of
urea, which is made from natural gas. We invite investors to
develop more natural gas-based petrochemical projects.

k. Fellow Nigerians, This Government will not tolerate actions
by any individual or groups of individuals who seek to attack our
way of life or those who seek to corruptly enrich themselves at the
expense of the rest of us. We will crack down on those who incite
ordinary innocent people to violence and unrest.

l. We will ensure that such actions are met with the strong arm
of the law.

66. Nation building takes time. But we must take solace in the
knowledge that this country, our country, has everything we require
to make Nigeria prosper.

67. Fellow Nigerians, Your Highnesses, Your Excellencies, Ladies
and Gentlemen, I invite you to join me in this journey of
rebuilding our nation.

68. Our focus will not be to help the privileged few but to
ensure that Nigeria works for Nigerians of all persuasions. That is
a more just arrangement.

69. As we all know, correcting injustice is a pre-requisite for
peace and unity. As part of the process of healing and
reconciliation, I approved the recognition of June 12 as Democracy
Day and invested the late Chief M.K.O. Abiola and Babagana Kingibe
with National Honours, as I did with the late Chief Gani Fawehinmi.
The purpose was to partially atone for the previous damage done in
annulling the Presidential elections of that year.

70. Today, I propose the re-naming of the Abuja National
Stadium. Henceforth it will be called MOSHOOD ABIOLA NATIONAL
STADIUM.

71. In my first term, we put Nigeria back on its feet. We are
working again despite a difficult environment in oil on which we
depend too much for our exports. We encountered huge resistance
from vested interests who do not want CHANGE, But CHANGE has come,
we now must move to the NEXT LEVEL.

72. By the Grace of God, I intend to keep the oath I have made
today and to serve as President for all Nigerians.

73. I thank you for attending this august occasion from far and
near, and for all your best wishes to me, to our party and to
Nigeria.

74. God bless us all, and God bless the Federal Republic of
Nigeria.

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NAF Combat Helicopter Crash-Lands in
Katsina

A Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Helicopter has crashed in the process
of landing while returning from an anti-armed banditry combat
mission in the Northwest Theatre under Operation HADARAN DAJI.
Details of the cause of the incident, which occurred at the Katsina
Airport at about 3.30pm today, 12 June 2019, are still scanty.
However, there was no loss of life, either of persons on board the
helicopter or on the ground.

The Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar,
has immediately directed the constitution of a Board of Inquiry to
determine the exact cause of the incident. The NAF continues to
solicit the understanding and support of the general public as it
daily strives to ensure the security of Nigeria and Nigerians.

IBIKUNLE DARAMOLA
Air Commodore
Director of Public Relations and Information
Nigerian Air Force