Fulfillment of electoral promises not easy, Buhari admits

President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday said he was committed to the fulfillment of his electoral promises to Nigerians.

He however admitted that the task is not an easy one.

Buhari spoke at the Graduation Ceremony of Course 24 of the National Defence College, Abuja where he was the Special Guest of Honour.

He said though it was not easy to make good the electoral promises, he and members of his team were trusting in God that they would deliver through hard work and sound vision.

He said, “Let me assure you all that this administration is committed to bequeathing to this nation, a new orientation in leadership that will be service-driven and committed to the realisation of its promises to the electorates.

“We are however not under any illusions that this task is an easy one.

“But we have put our trust in God knowing that with hard work and sound vision, we will triumph.”

Buhari expressed delight that in the last one year, through the hard work, dedication and sacrifices made by members of the nation’s armed forces and security services, the nation had been able to degrade the capacity of Boko Haram insurgents to wreck havoc.

On the incessant clashes between herdsmen and farmers, the President said his administration would not condone any act of criminality.

He said he had therefore directed security agencies to deal decisively with the situation.

“On the matter of herdsmen/farmers clashes, I wish to state that this administration will not tolerate or condone acts of banditry and criminality, under any guise.

“As such, our security agencies have been mandated to deal with such acts decisively.

” Let me state that this administration has been working assiduously in conjunction with our local and international partners, to rebuild damaged communities in North East part of our country.

“Similarly, we are committed to tackling the issues of underdevelopment and neglect in the Niger Delta area.

“This is a priority we have set before us and we intend to make appreciable gains in correcting the ills of the past in the Niger Delta by assuaging inherent grievances,” he said.

For the Nigerian graduating participants, Buhari said he expected that they would all have made the most of their time on the course and be ready to join the ongoing process to change Nigeria for the better.

He said Nigeria had made tremendous progress in the last one year towards taking her rightful position in the comity of nations.

The President promised to continue to build on the progress in the coming years so as to ensure that Nigeria maintains the heights it had achieved, adding that it is a task that all Nigerians must resolve to do.

He said, “International confidence in our country and its future is beginning to return, because of how we are slowly finding ways to solve our problems.

“The nation is beginning to have faith in the ability of our society’s institutional capacity to tackle our problems. But we must work doubly hard to restore our nation to higher glory.

“The Nigerian Armed Forces have proven to be equal to the task of maintaining our internal and external security.”

The President recalled that at the inception of his administration, he outlined certain core areas of our national life that require immediate intervention, which include to secure the country, improve the economy and fight corruption.

He said corruption and poverty remained the country’s main problems.

He said billions of naira have been recovered from indicted companies and individuals, adding that through the implementation and enforcement of the Treasury Single Account, the nation had also saved more money.

Buhari said Nigeria needs a philosophy of transparency and accountability in governance to tap the nation’s vast opportunities.

“The other core areas that we need to improve are the rule of law and moral standards in government and in society in order to provide a good foundation for good governance so that our gains are not dissipated by corruption.

“Good governance must be based on a sound moral foundation, a philosophy of transparency, accountability and an ethic of effective implementation.

“Already, our unrelenting fight against criminality and corruption in governance i