President Muhamadu Buhari on Thursday vowed that his administration will not rest until Nigerians live in safety and are secured despite the rising insecurity in the country.
President Buhari made the commitment in Abuja while speaking at the public presentation of the book titled; “Standing Strong: Legislative Reforms, Third Term and Other issues of 5th Senate, written by Ken Nnamani, former President of the Senate.
Represented by Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Ogbonnaya Onu, the President said the Federal Government was reviewing its strategies to continuously degrade all criminal elements in the country.
“We are creating strategic cooperation amongst our various military and sister agencies for them to work together to fight crime in the country. Nigeria must be peaceful and Nigerians will live in safety.
“We thank Ken Nnamani for writing this important book. I’m happy that he has put down his experience acquired when he served the nation as the Senate President. This is very useful for all who would like to study all the problems that the nation had at that period in our history. It is important that we all recognise that there is no nation on earth without problems”, he said.
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In his remarks, the author of the book, Nnamani suggested that at this point in Nigeria’s history, the mission for everyone is to strengthen the institutions of democracy and ensure that the democratic gains are not lost in an ugly power struggle.
He also said that the country needs credible and competent leadership to ensure sustainable development, stressing that both leaders and institutions matter in the journey to progress, hence good leaders create and sustain good institutions.
The former Chairman of the National Assembly said the Third Term Agenda of former President Olusegun Obasanjo failed due to the combination of good institutions and good leadership.
“It is often said that the heart of constitutional democracy is representation. Where the legislature is strong and truly representative, the people are protected against authoritarian impulses that often characterize public leadership. Where the legislature is weak and captured by special interests, the bulwark against autocracy is easily dismantled.
“Nigeria’s constitution positions the National Assembly as a pillar of democracy. In the constitution, the legislature is protected from executive override and committed to supporting the executive in managing the national economy. in a constitutional democracy, the checks and balances system guarantees freedom and liberty.
“My overriding message today is that institution matters. But leadership matters most. We need to focus on building the strongest and most resilient institutions of democracy and development. We need to have the best-in-class institutions since economic and social development turns mostly on the quality of institutions.
“However, recent political experience teaches us that crafty autocrats can rob these institutions of meaning and use them against democracy and development. The Third Term Bid was almost a disaster, but for the vigilance and courage of the National Assembly leaders who supported the due process and opposed an invasion of self-serving politicians.
“We have imperfect institutions. But as long as we are willing to uphold the basic tenets of democracy which primarily requires that the citizens choose their leaders and leaders while in power should not extend their mandate, we can cure these imperfections. The work of building a prosperous and stable society will task national and local leaders”, he added.
