#jaiyeorie
INDEPENDENCE DAY ADDRESS BY MUHAMMADU BUHARI, PRESIDENT AND
COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE ARMED FORCES, FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA
DELIVERED ON THE OCCASION OF NIGERIA’S 62ND INDEPENDENCE ANNIVERSARY
CELEBRATION ON 1ST OCTOBER, 2022
Fellow Nigerians,
I address you today, with a deep sense of gratitude to God and a high
level of appreciation to all Nigerians whose tremendous goodwill gave
me the opportunity to provide leadership for our great country at one of
the trying times in her history.
2. Conscious that today’s address would be my last on an Independence
Day as your President; I speak to the millions of Nigerians, who
believed in me, propelled and stood by me in my quest to bequeath a
country where all citizens have equal opportunities to achieve their
lives desires in a peaceful atmosphere.
3. I am honoured to say that my story in the annals of Nigeria’s
history is no household secret. My various attempts, failures and
eventual success in being elected as a Democratic President in 2015 was
made possible by the majority of Nigerians.
4. When you elected me, I readily acknowledged that the tasks before
me were daunting but surmountable because of the growing national
consensus that our chosen route to national development was democracy.
5. This democracy was to be anchored on a clear understanding,
application and the principles of separation of powers supported by a
reformed public service that is more effective.
6. I then pledged to Improve the Economy, Tackle Corruption and Fight
Insecurity and this was further strengthened by my commitment to lift
100 million Nigerians out of poverty in ten years as the central plank
of my second term in 2019.
7. To the Glory of God and His Grace as well as the commitment and
passion displayed by many Nigerian supporters, we have made appreciable
progress in these areas but not yet at our destination.
8. Mindful of the task before us, we took some time in settling down
and we re-positioned the Economy by providing strategic interventions in
core areas at both the Federal and Sub-National levels.
19. This is evidenced by the recent Monetary Policy Committee
decision to maintain all parameters, especially interest rates and
marginally increased the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) from 14% to 15.5%
and the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) from 27.5% to 32.5%. It is projected
that this would further insulate our economy from over exposure to
uncertainties at the international market by restraining growth in core
inflation.
20. As we continue to de-escalate the security challenges that
confronted us at inception of this administration, newer forms alien to
our country began to manifest especially in the areas of kidnappings,
molestations/killings of innocent citizens, banditry, all of which are
being addressed by our security forces.
21. I share the pains Nigerians are going through and I assure you
that your resilience and patience would not be in vain as this
administration continues to reposition as well as strengthen the
security agencies to enable them to deal with all forms of security
challenges.
22. At the inception of this administration in 2015, I provided the
funding requirements of the security agencies which was also improved in
my second tenure in 2019 to enable them to surmount security
challenges. We will continue on this path until our efforts yield the
desired results.
23. As we put in place all measures to ensure that Nigeria takes her
place in the Comity of Nations, we recognize the importance of a
well-educated populace as a panacea to most of the challenges we face.
24. We have, therefore, pursued policies and implemented programmes
designed to create a literate and proficient society that ensures that
citizens are availed with opportunities for life-long achievements.
25. I must confess that I am very pained by the recurring disruption
to our tertiary education system and I am using this Independence Day
celebration to re-iterate my call for the striking Academic Staff Union
of Universities (ASUU) to return to the classroom while assuring them to
deal with their contending issues within the limits of the scarce
resources available. This administration has made appreciable progress
in redressing these issues that have been lingering for over eleven
years.
26. The Federal Government will continue to mobilize resources both
internationally and nationally towards funding education to ensure that
our citizens are well educated and skilled in various vocations in view
of the fact that education is a leading determinant of economic growth
and employment generation.
27. Fellow Nigerians, we have also improved our health facilities,
especially during and after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, which
attracted commendation of the global community.
28. As you are aware, Nigeria was one of the countries that defied
global predictions of the socio-economic impacts of the COVID-19
pandemic because of our resilience, commitment and passion with which we
individually and collectively managed the pandemic.
39. Having witnessed at close quarters, the pains, anguish and
disappointment of being a victim of an unfair electoral process, the
pursuit of an electoral system and processes that guarantee election of
leaders by citizens remains the guiding light as I prepare to wind down
our administration.
40. You would all agree that the recent elections in the past two
years in some states (notably Anambra, Ekiti and Osun) and a few federal
constituencies have shown a high degree of credibility, transparency
and freedom of choice with the people’s votes actually counting. This I
promise would be improved upon as we move towards the 2023 General
Elections.
41. As we begin the transition process to another democratically
elected government, I want to implore all aspirants to conduct
issues-based campaigns devoid of hate speeches as well as other negative
and divisive tendencies.
42. I also want to express my wish that we see more female and youth
participation in the forth-coming electoral cycle. I am sure that our
teeming and energetic youths now realise that violence generally mar
elections and so should desist from being used by politicians for this
purpose.
43. Reforms in the public sector are already yielding results
especially in the delivery of services. On this note, I urge the general
public to demand for citizen-centred services from the relevant
authorities.
44. On the international front, we have continued to take advantage
of our bilateral and multilateral platforms to explore cooperation with
friendly countries and partners whenever these areas of cooperation are
to the advantage of Nigeria.
45. Fellow Nigerians, in the past few years we have witnessed and
overcome a good number of challenges that would ordinarily have
destroyed our Nation. However, the indefatigable spirit of the Nigerian
people has ensured that we overcome our challenges.
46. It is in this spirit that I call on all of us to individually and
collectively bring to the fore in dealing with all our development
issues.
47. I was called to serve, along with my team, I saw an opportunity
to create a better Nigeria which we have done with the support of
Nigerians. Almighty God and the good people of Nigeria supported us in
laying a solid foundation for the Nigeria of our dreams.
I thank you all and God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
✍️✍️✍️ ✍️“feel free to disagree in the comments 👀 ☝️👆 & let JAIYEORIE know what U think!”
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