President-elect
Muhammadu Buhari says there are at least 10 challenges ahead of his in-coming
administration and has sought the support of the new legislators in tackling
them.
He was speaking on
Wednesday at the induction of new members of the national assembly organised by
the National Institute for Legislative Studies in Abuja.
The challenges he listed
are:
§ General insecurity and insurgency “that has caused
extreme human hardship and destruction of lives, livelihoods” in the north-east
and north-west
§ Environmental degradation in the Niger Delta
§ Decline in revenues due to fall in oil prices
§ Endemic corruption “which has crippled human and
infrastructure development for decades”
§ Poor provision of power supply “which has had a
crippling effect on development of small businesses”
§ Deindustrialization for the past three decades
leading to closure of many industries and migration of many to other African
countries
§ High levels of unemployment and especially youth
unemployment which Buhari put at 40%
§ High cost of governance “that has been crowding out
capital and human development”
§ Erosion of public social services such as
infrastructure, health and education.
§ Lack of development in the agricultural and solid
mineral sectors.
He said he hoped to work
closely with legislators to tackle the challenges, noting that the legislature
is a critical component and necessary ingredient of democracy and good
governance.
Buhari told the lawmakers:
“The legislature by nature is inherently democratic in the sense that all
members are equal and are elected representatives of the Nigerian people. As
President-elect, I recognise this fact and believe that legislators carry this
heavy burden of representation with all the seriousness it deserves.
“For a president to be
successful in addressing community development and general welfare of the
various people of the country, he or she would benefit from working closely and
in harmony with the legislative arm of government.
“I therefore commit myself
to working with the legislature as development partners motivated by the desire
to deliver good governance.”
He commended Nigerians for their role during the
general election, and commended President Goodluck Jonathan for accepting the
results of the election “before final announcement was made”.
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