Senate President, Bukola Saraki, is currently at the ongoing 4th World Conference of Speakers of Parliaments, organised by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) at the United Nations (UN) headquarters in New York.
Saraki on Wednesday, September 2, 2015 delivered a key note address which hinted on diverse issues affecting Nigeria and the world at large.
Below s a full text of his statement:
Greetings from the National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
It is a great honour to address you this morning. Let me join my other colleagues in congratulating the IPU on this historic conference of speakers. The timing could not have been more significant.
Today, we live in a world that is embattled with challenges with no easy answers from climate change, to regional conflicts and terrorism. These conflicts have brought in their wake the problem of internal destitution, displacement and dislocation. Democracy and development cannot take place in this type of atmosphere. The challenge the global community now faces is how to quickly turn this tide around to achieve sustainable development.
My fellow colleagues, this is the biggest question development faces across the world. For us in Nigeria, the challenge is the same. Nigeria just came out of a general election a few months ago. The process, the outcome and the aftermath of that election are quite significant in many respects, not only to Nigeria but also to the entire African continent. Hopefully, the days where elections lead to instability and conflict in Africa will become a thing of the past.
In the days leading to the election, many analysts outside Nigeria believed the elections would end in serious crisis and even predicted that Nigeria may not survive as a united country. Well, events turned out differently. Nigeria went ahead to conduct a most peaceful and most transparent election in her history. For the first time ever, the ruling party was defeated in a free and fair election. More importantly, we witnessed a peaceful transfer of power to the opposition after the then incumbent had graciously conceded defeat. President Muhammadu Buhari has since assumed office and the people of Nigeria look ahead with great hopes and renewed optimism.
With the historic success of that election, Nigerians demonstrated an abiding commitment to democracy. However, while the rest of the world has acknowledged this Nigerian achievement and have rejoiced with us accordingly, those of us in leadership position understand that an election by itself does not make democracy. Our democracy will only be strengthened if it is able to guarantee also, better life and security for our people. This is where the challenge then lies. How then do we guarantee better life for our people in the mist of terrorism, insecurity and corruption?”
