President Obasanjo's Inaugural Address To The Joint Session Of The New National Assembly

All thanks be to Almighty God for bringing us to this critical juncture in the life of our country. It gives me much pleasure to welcome you all, Distinguished and Honourable members of the National Assembly, to the ceremony marking the formal opening of our Federal Legislature, after the recent and successful general elections, the second in this Republic.

Only last week, the Executive arm, that is the Vice President and myself, as well as all the state governors and their deputies, were sworn-in at ceremonies here in Abuja and in all the respective state capitals. Even as we renew our gratitude to God, all of us in this country have every reason to be proud of this moment in our history. The successful general elections, and the enduring formalities of making civilian-to-civilian transition, testify to the fact that our renewed effort at building a united, strong and democratic country, is being well nurtured. Democracy is taking firm root in our land and Nigerians are collectively and confidently moving our country forward, according to the National Anthem injunction: “to serve with heart and might, one nation bound in freedom, peace and unity”

Let me congratulate all of you, Distinguished Senators, and Honourable Members of the Houses of Representatives, on your election or re-election, as the case might be. It is a great honour to be chosen to serve your country in this exalted capacity, of being a member of your nation’s law making body. Each of us, electorally mandated officials, carries the heavy burden of the sacred trust given by the electorate. We are laden with the challenge to discharge that trust efficiently and as completely as possible, with due diligence, intellect, patriotism, humility, and leadership by example, and with team spirit that accords with democratic values. Our target must be the highest expectations of our respective electorates, and indeed of all our people.

The beacon of light that will guide us on our path of duty and service will, among other attributes, encompass a democratic instinct, a keen sense of justice and compassion, due process and an unwavering focus on the goal of serving our country.
The last four years, and the recent general elections have convinced me of the validity of my strategy of a single-item agenda: Nigeria. Contrary to the views of those who are inclined to highlight our differences as a people, and emphasise the mistaken notion of our diversity as a source of structural weakness, instead of being a rich source of strength, the trend of events, especially in the recent General Elections, is that our people are happily settled on Nigeria as a united and indivisible country, with a bright future and the potential for world greatness. What remains now, is how not to betray that bright future, while we actualise the potential for greatness. The hope of realising the greatness of Nigeria has never been higher!

Distinguished and Honourable Members of the National Assembly, the last elections have been rather drastic on both chambers. More than seventy per cent of the senators did not return, and more than two-thirds of the representatives are new. While experience has its premium, and we would have wished for more retention of experience, I, however, respectfully urge you to consider the radical turnover of membership as a kind of rejuvenation, and possibly a blessing in disguise. Please join me in expressing appreciation to those who left, for their service to the Assembly. We wish them all the best for the future.

Let me raise some observations on Executive-Legislative relations in the last four years. With all due respect, distinguished legislators, the best that could be said about that relationship was that it had been a learning curve, with both sides having ample opportunity to assess and understand each other. It is most regrettable that the process has meant much work was left undone in the form of Bills awaiting to be legislated upon. I look forward to you expediting action on such outstanding bills. Equally regrettable is the fact that public wrangling pertaining to the unwholesome aspects of this relationship had cast doubts in the minds of many, at home and abroad, about the future prospects for our newly instituted democracy.

A new attitude and a new orientation is definitely called for. The electorate who voted us into office are expecting nothing less. Let us not disappoint them. All we need to do is pay due respect to the sanctity of the ground rules of behaviour appropriate to the leadership status conferred on us by our various mandates, because those ground rules are themselves predicated on such fundamental principles as: national interest, patriotism, public interest, integrity, social responsibility, code of conduct, as well as loyalty to the party whose ideology is our political platform.

I believe that everyone here is aware of our anti-corruption crusade. The Executive will not condone corruption in any way or form. The Executive will not compromise on this evil that continues to deal damaging blows to our efforts to achieve economic development and social progress. In this regard, Nigerians, and indeed friends of Nigeria throughout the world, are expecting this National Assembly to quickly restore credibility to law-making, by tidying up the circumstances surrounding the previous ill-motivated attempts to counter our battle against corruption. The existing Anti-Corruption Act, whose Bill was the first to be sent to National Assembly, is our article of faith that corruption in Nigeria can be combated, its provisions express our seriousness about being accountable and transparent. Let us use it. Let us enforce it. And there should be no sacred cows. To expedite court action on persons found corrupt, there is need to amend the Act. I intend to forward the Bill to effectsuch amendment, to the National Assembly this month.

I specially appeal to and invite this National Assembly to join hands with me in fighting against corruption anywhere it rears its ugly head in this country. Such a patriotic act will enhance the prestige and reputation of this national law-making body.

It is only fair to say that I look forward to reciprocation by the National Assembly, to the gestures and undertakings, so that we can put the recent past behind us and begin anew for the benefit of the country. I fully identify with the majority of Nigerians who are hoping this refreshed and renewed National Assembly will move away from actions that are obstructive to effective management of the affairs of this nation. You can always count on me for regular briefing and consultation.

The definition and the use of the instrument of oversight function to mean attempts to extort and blackmail, will simply not work. Furthermore, impeachment, or even the threat of it, as a means of arm-twisting and not as a result of some patent constitutional breach on the part of the Executive, will destabilise not only the President, but the entire country, whilst making a mockery of our notion of democracy and democratic processes.

And let me say it here and now, this Executive will not succumb to blackmail, threats or intimidation, under any circumstance. I offer an open arm of cooperation, consultation and dialogue.

Urgent national issues

Parties and candidates who lost at the polls during the recent general elections, tended on the whole to have behaved well, in spite of allegations of irregularities. But, a few others have been threatening the peace and stability of the country, and, by extension, our current success in reinstating democracy as the only legitimate and viable system of government.

The elections are over. Those who are aggrieved have numerous time-honoured facilities for legally pursuing their grievances, including election tribunals. But we have a duty to maintain national security and public order. We will be restrained, but we will not succumb to harassment and threat to national security, by those who are finding it difficult to demonstrate sportsmanship in the face of defeat. The full force of the law, but only the law, shall be brought to bear on those who run foul of it. I therefore, appeal here and once more, to our defeated opponents to take their defeat philosophically and bear in mind that the next elections are only four years away. In the meantime, there are special judicial processes available to anyone unwilling to accept the verdict of the INEC on his or her candidature. We are fully committed to do everything possible to look into alleged malpractices because, among other reasons, we regard it as our duty to guard against future recurrence so as to enable us to strengthen our future practice of democracy.

Meanwhile to you victors here, I would like to express my profound concern with the escalating cost of elections in this country to contestants. I have no doubt that your recent experiences will support my observation that these costs are reaching proportions that are prohibitive for the ordinary Nigerian. With this excessive influence of money, our brand of democracy runs the risk of being out of reach and inaccessible for the active participation of fee many Nigerians. This would be a distortion of the core values of democracy. I am thus hoping that the National Assembly and the Executive will work together to find ways of correcting this unsavoury development in our politics.

The Rule of Law

If we all were to observe the rule of law, most of our problems as a nation would varnish almost instantly. This is because rule of law is the backbone of the social organization needed to make good use of what God has given us ñ the land, the people and material resources ñ to conquer poverty, entrench prosperity, and achieve accelerated socio-economic development. It is no coincidence that eminent world economists are known to have concluded that the rule of law is the invisible architecture of economic growth. Our administration is committed to establishing the rule of law in every aspect of our national life. Apart from the moral dimensions, observance of the rule of law increases productivity because it protects the domestic worker and encourage the foreign investor to invest in our economy. Thus, the rule of law is an imperative for setting up an efficient and prosperous state.

The Economy

The economy needs urgent attention everywhere. But it is more so in our case because of structural distortions, which have resisted attempts at corrective measures, such as the Structural Adjustment Programme, on-and-off import control and export drives, as well as deregulation. Addressing the economy will have to be wholesale. And while not ignoring the international rules of the game, we must be guided by our overriding national interests.

In contemplating our renewed effort to move the economy forward, some specific areas must receive special attention.

They include:

• unemployment, especially among the young, and acquisition of skills;
• rural poverty, especially among the rural women; fiscal policy with new initiatives on taxation and cost sharing;
• monetary policy with sustainable growth;
• greater controls or moderation of inflation and interest rates;
• managing the burdensome pension bills while giving future security to workers and their families;
• value addition to all of our exports;
• attack on consumerism and expensive acquired tastes;
• poor maintenance and lack of protection of government properties;
• the issue of production and productivity.

I look forward to working positively with the new National Assembly to tackle these issues, which are further manifested in the following highlights:

Waste: The amount of waste in our system is at an intolerable proportion. The causes are numerous and they are well-known. They include poor management, fraudulent and misuse of public property, indiscipline, and neglect and general negative attitude that regards government’s property as no one’s property. We plan to arrest the situation with measures that will make users own and care for the properties they use, while the management of other public properties will be appropriately monitored with penalties for misuse and neglect.

Taxation: We plan to introduce measures that will end our reputation as a society of tax dodgers and people who do not pay for the services they enjoy. The government simply cannot afford the expenditure in providing the services that the public desires without raising taxes or raising prices. The democratic side of this equation is that only those who pay their taxes are entitled to demand their right to services by the government. We thus intend to review our taxation system so as to enforce the optimal collection of revenue and to ensure that services are made available and are paid for by those who enjoy them.

Housing: We will give considerable attention for every Nigerian and particularly for workers. It has already been agreed that the National Housing Fund should be reformed to involve the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in its management.

Cost of Government: The cost of running government at all the various levels currently gulps a disproportionate amount of our revenue. It is clear that the structure of government will have to be thoroughly re-examined in order to get a reasonable balance between overheads and recurrent expenditure, and capital spending. We intend to undertake such a critical review. For instance, we will undertake to monetise benefits and prerequisites to government officials, and public servants. We intend to introduce contributory pension scheme. Differentials in salary scales will be rationalised and consistently monitored.

In line with other policies developed on this matter, members of the National Assembly, like all public officers, will have their fringe benefits monetised and paid as and when due. Let me draw your attention to the fact that for the financial procedures of the National Assembly, the Clerk of the National Assembly is the chief accounting officer, in the same manner that the Principal Secretary to the president is the chief accounting officer to State House. Any attempt by elected officials to interfere in this responsibility and duty would contravene the procedures and regulations as contained in Financial Rules, which must be strictly adhered to.

Discipline: This is an issue that has continued to recur in most observations about the way our society functions. Lack of discipline is a major factor behind many of our social problems, such as poor attitude towards work, inefficiency, and low productivity in our economic life and social organizations. Indiscipline has even got a popular reference called the Nigerian way of life or the Nigerian factor which, everyone knows, means how to get by without regard for order, or behaving unreasonably and not abiding by the norms, rules and regulations. We owe it to ourselves to clean up this image of Nigeria and Nigerians.

Service Delivery: Public offices are the shopping floor for government business. Regrettably, Nigerians have for too long been feeling short-changed by the quality of public service delivery by which decisions are not made without outside influence and files do not move without being pushed with inducements. Our public offices have for too long been showcases for the combined evils of inefficiency and corruption, whilst being impediments to effective implementation of government policies. Nigerians deserve better. And we will ensure they get what is better! We will undertake a comprehensive review and reform of the Civil Service and necessary measures will be taken to ensure that the Civil Service performs better and more efficiently and effectively, and Nigeria is better served.

Distinguished and honourable members of the National Assembly, the most urgent priority is the economy!

To begin with, we will leave no stone unturned to fight against those criminals who have continued to bleed the Nigerian economy. We will induce and encourage legitimate investors and participants in our economy, but will wage war against those who systematically destroy our economy. We have already embarked on a war against unpatriotic Nigerians who engage in advance fee fraud. There will be no hiding place for these criminal individuals who tarnish the image of Nigeria.

While we preoccupy ourselves with the economy and its derivative progress, we must also continue the struggle for international justice and equity in this globalised world in matters of trade, debts and investments. They have direct impact on our economy.

Nigeria will work, in this connection, with all countries in situations similar to ours, which means all of the African countries and the rest of the Third World. We must all familiarise ourselves thoroughly with the dynamics of the world economy and the cutting edge of development economics.

Inter-African cooperation, particularly the New Economic Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) remain both our strategic fulcrum as well as our article of faith in Africa’s future.

If we work hard on the economy, we shall, by the grace of God, make it. We have the basic resources. We can increase our acquisition of know-how. And we have the freedom to decide for ourselves. We cannot ask for more.

Distinguished Senators and Honourable Members of the House of Representatives, four years ago when Nigerians used their votes to re-establish democracy, they did so with the highest hope that democracy will usher in peace and prosperity. Let us thank God that the hope is still alive as manifested in the enthusiasm in the last elections. The expectation may even be higher, now that allowance has been made for the lessons of the past four years, that the National Assembly and the executive, working together, should deliver dividends of democracy. Distinguished and honourable legislators, we face the challenge of making a success of our nation state. Let us now gather the will, let us muster the courage, and let us join hands and consolidate the momentum to march confidently into a future that we can all be proud of, and in which we would all be happy to live in. We have a duty to shape that future with what God has richly endowed us as a country. And, if we rise fully to our call to duty and service, the bright future will be here sooner than later. Let us begin by inviting Nigerians to join us in saluting that glorious future today! I thank you.