As Nigeria marks her 62nd Independence Anniversary, President Muhammadu Buhari has said he shared the pains of Nigerians over existing challenges still confronting the people.

He, however, scored his administration high in delivering most of the electoral promises he made to Nigerians upon election in 2015 and 2019.

The President who became sober said he remains eternally grateful to Nigerians for electing him to run the affairs of the country on their behalf, after several trials and failures, just as he regretted that this will be his last independence day speech as President.

Giving a profile of his stewardship in the last seven years, Buhari said his administration will not relent in de-escalating the security challenges that confronted Nigeria at the inception of his administration, ”newer forms alien to our country began to manifest especially in the areas of kidnappings, molestations/killings of innocent citizens, banditry, all of which are being addressed by our security forces, he said.

He said, ” I share the pains Nigerians are going through and I assure you that your resilience and patience would not be in vain as this administration continues to reposition as well as strengthen the security agencies to enable them to deal with all forms of security challenges”.

He revealed that at the inception of his administration in 2015, he provided the funding requirements of the security agencies which was also improved in his second tenure in 2019 to enable them to surmount security challenges.

”We will continue on this path until our efforts yield the desired results.

“I address you today, with a deep sense of gratitude to God and a high level of appreciation to all Nigerians whose tremendous goodwill gave me the opportunity to provide leadership for our great country at one of the trying times in her history.

“Conscious that today’s address would be my last on Independence Day as your President; I speak to the millions of Nigerians, who believed in me, propelled and stood by me in my quest to bequeath a country where all citizens have equal opportunities to achieve their lives desires in a peaceful atmosphere.

“I am honoured to say that my story in the annals of Nigeria’s history is no household secret. My various attempts, failures and eventual success in being elected as a Democratic President in 2015 were made possible by the majority of Nigerians.

“When you elected me, I readily acknowledged that the tasks before me were daunting but surmountable because of the growing national consensus that our chosen route to national development was democracy,” an emotion-laden Buhari stated.

He said his style of democracy was anchored on a clear understanding, application and the principles of separation of powers supported by a reformed public service that is more effective.

I then pledged to improve the economy, tackle corruption and fight insecurity and this was further strengthened by my commitment to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in ten years as the central plank of my second term in 2019.

To the Glory of God and His Grace as well as the commitment and passion displayed by many Nigerian supporters, we have made appreciable progress in these areas but are not yet at our destination.