Eight years after he swept to power on a wave of promises, President Muhammadu Buhari has looked back on his tenure with a sense of fulfillment and of progress for the country under his watch.
On Sunday morning, in his final broadcast to the nation, the President admitted challenges to his administration and grieved for children in captivity and the loss of lives to insecurity, but his summary was clear.
“As I retire home to Daura, Katsina State, I feel fulfilled that we have started the Nigeria Re-Birth by taking the initial critical steps,” he said.
“I am confident that I am leaving office with Nigeria better in 2023 than in 2015.”
One of the areas in which the President is happy with his performance is the country’s electoral process.
Celebrating another peaceful transition of power from one elected government to another, he called for accountability.
“We must as a nation improve and sustain gains we make in the electoral process, on an incremental basis for Nigeria to take its rightful place among Nations,” he said.
“To ensure that our democracy remains resilient and our elected representatives remain accountable to the people, I am leaving behind an electoral process which guarantees that votes count, results are credible, elections are fair and transparent and the influence of money in politics reduced to the barest minimum. And Nigerians can elect leaders of their choice.”
The President had promised to tackle insecurity, fight corruption, and strengthen the Nigerian economy, promises critics have accused him of failing badly on.
In his broadcast, the President admitted that he started his tenure with a “great deal of promise and expectation” before moving to defend his performance and stating his conviction that “the in-coming administration will quicken the pace of this walk to see a Nigeria that fulfills its destiny to be a great nation.
In terms of the economy, critics have pointed to the numbers — worsened inflation and unemployment rate as well as a significantly weaker naira and concerning debt levels among other things — as evidence of the President’s failure in office.
He, however, holds a different position on the state of the economy.
“The Nigerian economy has become more resilient due to the various strategies put in place to ensure that our economy remained afloat during cases of global economic downturns,” he said in his broadcast.
on all Nigerians to be more vigilant and support the security agencies by ensuring that our values defined by being your brothers’ keeper govern our actions.
“Up-till now, I still grieve for our children still in captivity, mourn with parents, friends and relatives of all those that lost loved ones in the days of the senseless brigandage and carnage. For all those under unlawful captivity, our Security Agencies are working round the clock to secure their release unharmed.
President Buhari also saw considerable progress in his administration’s fight against corruption, which was driven by what the President described as a dear desire in his heart to rid the country of corrupt practices that had “consistently diminished our efforts to be a great country”.
“I did pursue this commitment relentlessly, in spite of the expected pushback,” he said of the fight against corruption. “I am happy that considerable progress had been made in repatriating huge sums of money back to the country and also taking over properties illegally acquired from our commonwealth.”
According to him, steps have also been taken to improve service delivery. The steps include the implementation of a number of reforms aimed at producing an Efficient, Productive, Incorruptible and Citizen-oriented (EPIC) Federal Civil Service.
“The results are beginning to show,” he said.
Credit: Channels Television