President-elect Muhammadu Buhari vowed on Wednesday to defeat the Islamist insurgency raging in Nigeria's northeast in his first formal speech since being confirmed the winner of last weekend’s vote.
Boko Haram has waged a bloody insurgency to establish an Islamic state in the country since 2009 that has claimed the lives of more than 13,000 people and left some 1.5 million homeless.“In tackling the insurgency, we have a tough and urgent job to do,” said Buhari, 72, at a ceremony in the capital Abuja. "But I assure you that Boko Haram will soon know the strength of our collective will and our commitment to rid this nation of terror, and bring back peace and normalcy."
"We shall spare no effort until we defeat terrorism," he said.
In official results released on Wednesday, Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission said that Buhari won 53.95 percent of the vote to incumbent Goodluck Jonathan’s 44.96 percent.
Buhari’s victory made him the first Nigerian leader to oust a sitting president in a democratic vote, an achievement that also puts him in charge of Africa’s largest economy and its most populous country.
Calling for reconciliation across the political divide, Buhari said Nigerians had put the days of one-party rule behind them and embraced democracy.
“We have voted for a president and a government that will serve and govern, but never rule over you,” he said. “Change has come. A new day and a new Nigeria are open to us. The victory is yours.”
As preliminary results late on Tuesday made clear that Buhari had won the presidency, President Jonathan called to congratulate his successor. Jonathan’s quick concession helped alleviate fears of a repeat of the post-election violence that saw 1,000 people killed after Jonathan defeated Buhari in 2011.
Long road back
It has been a long road back for Buhari to the top job in Nigerian politics. A former army general, Buhari overthrew president Shehu Shagari – widely seen as inept and corrupt – in a military coup in 1983. As the head of a military government during the 1980s, Buhari earned a reputation for his tough stance against nepotism and fraud.
Since then he tried – and failed – to win the presidency three times since democracy was restored to Nigeria in 1999.
His last attempt saw him lose to Jonathan in a comprehensive 2011 defeat, when he secured just 32 percent of the vote to Jonathan’s 59 percent.
But voter dissatisfaction with Jonathan – whose time in office has been marked by the steady rise of Boko Haram and allegations of failing to tackle endemic corruption in the oil-rich country – indicated the race was likely to be much closer this time around.
As in previous campaigns, Buhari placed the fight against corruption at the heart of his political platform, a tactic that appears to have paid off with voters.
Buhari has also managed to bridge the traditional ethnic and religious fault lines of Nigerian politics, which typically sees a sharp divide between the largely Muslim north and the predominantly Christian south.
As a Muslim from the north, Buhari succeeded in winning states in the southwest and even took an unprecedented one-third of votes in a southeastern state.
His challenge now will be to make good on his pre-election promises, namely fighting corruption and defeating Boko Haram, which pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group last month.
Buhari will also need to show he is capable of successfully guiding Africa’s top economy through a difficult period due to the falling price of oil, which accounts for the vast majority of Nigeria's income.
(FRANCE 24 with AP, AFP and REUTERS)
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