>
Akinwande Soji-Ojo
President Muhammadu Buhari, on Thursday, confered the country’s highest national honour, Grand Commander of the Federal Republic (GCFR), on the president-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, at the State House, Abuja.
Speaking after his investiture, Tinubu said he understand the task ahead of him, adding that he would not disappoint Nigerians.
Read his address below:
1. Thank You, Mr. President, for bestowing the nation’s highest honors on my Vice President elect Shettima and me.
2. Our deep thanks also for the transition documents and the committed work performed by the transition council headed by the SGF.
3. The documents summarize the immense work of your administration. They constitute an impressive and noteworthy scorecard.
4. You have made history and no one can take your contribution to our nation’s development.
5. Your devotion to progressive and democratic good governance is unassailable.
6. As such, I stand here renewed not only in hope but also in dedication to our national purpose and destiny.
7. I also feel full of pride but this pride I feel is not for myself. It is for what this moment represents.
8. This stately occasion is living evidence that Nigeria is a vibrant and true democracy. All of us here bear witness to this inspiring proceeding where one leader bestows personal honor on his successor. Also, that leader does his utmost to exchange the baton of government by ensuring that his successor is as well-prepared as possible for the task at hand.
9. This hall is permeated with a sense of reverence for our democracy and the confident belief that this reverence shall be enshrined for generations to come.
10. Today is more than ceremony. It confirms that our path is right and that nothing will deter us from adhering to it.
11. Our way shall not always be smooth. Yet we are imbued with faith in our purpose and a firm belief in our collective ability to overcome the challenges that confront us.
12. President Buhari, you have shown courage in taking tough decisions others avoided.
13. One such decision was to recognize the injustice of the annulment of the 1993 election, to designate June 12 as Democracy Day, and to bestow the nation’s highest honor on the late MKO Abiola.
14. As much as anyone could, you reached back into history to set the record straight and heal a festering wound.
15. The justice you did in this matter lends special meaning to today.
16. I am a simple man who is the beneficiary of the support and goodwill of the people of Nigeria.
17. The people have put their trust in us. You have done your part Mr. President.
18. Now, that great duty descends on me. I understand the meaning of the honor given to me today and of the task that awaits.
19. I must run this race and must do it well. On security, the economy, agriculture, jobs, education, health and power and in all other sectors we must make headway. The people deserve no less. In this, I shall disappoint neither them nor you, Mr. President.
20. Thank You and May God Bless our beloved republic.
