Fun Galore As Buhari Takes Mantle Of Leadership In Abuja
Nigeria’s president, Mohammed Buhari, wore a smile all through his inauguration ceremony that took place today at the Eagle Square, Abuja. The event, which took place under a sunny sky, as with previous swearing-in ceremonies was attended by past Nigerian presidents, foreign diplomats and highly distinguished guests.
A series of security checks signaled the commencement of the
event as guests were ushered in and entertained to the delightful
compere of the famous Bisi Olatilo. Guests were entertained by Peter and
Paul of P-square, Faze, Ayinde-K1 the Ultimate, and a few local
entertainers.
The high point of the event was the swearing-in of
Buhari as the 4th democratically elected president since 1999 when the
country returned to democracy. Buhari then proceeded to receive the
21-gun salute and release the symbolic white pigeons into the air to symbolize peace. President Buhari inspected the parade by the Nigerian
army and went on to deliver his inaugural speech.
Delivering his speech the president declared that business will
not be as usual and promised not to interfere with other arms of
government, the legislature and the judiciary. He had a quote for those
suspecting that he might be a political tool in the hands of influential
politicians. He said ‘I belong to everybody and I belong to nobody’. He
went further to dampen the fears of those that can be classified as his
‘political enemies’ saying their suspicions are ‘groundless’.
President
Buhari then charged law enforcement agencies to be law abiding,
promising that law enforcing operatives will discharge their duties
according to the law under his administration. Knowing that the task
ahead of him requires the participation of everyone President Buhari
canvassed for the support of Nigerians. “Government cannot succeed without the support of labour unions, civil society, and the press including the social media,” he said.
As regards repositioning the public service the president had this to say: “We
shall rebuild and reform the public service to become more effective
and more serviceable. We shall charge them to apply themselves with
integrity to stabilize the system.”
He then charged the judiciary “to act with dispatch on all cases especially on corruption, serious financial crimes or abuse of office” saying that the three arms of government would have to “act constitutionally” so that “government will be enabled to serve the country optimally and avoid the confusion that often bedevils governance”.