President Buhari said past looters of the treasury are behind
the resurgence of militancy in the Niger Delta region, stressing that they are
the reasons the nation is battling recession. According to him: “Those who
stole Nigeria dry are not happy. They recruited the militants against us in the
Niger Delta, and began to sabotage oil infrastructure. We lose millions of
barrels per day, at a time when every dollar we can earn, counts. It is a
disgrace that a minimum of 27 states, out of 36 that we have in Nigeria, can’t
pay salaries.
In a statement by his special adviser media, Femi Adesina,
President Buhari was speaking to top rate Nigerian professionals based in the
United States of America, whom Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Senior Special Assistant
to the President on Diaspora Matters and International Relations, described as
“15 of the best people God ever created”. The professionals were in New York to
meet with the Nigerian President. Top flight aeronautics engineers, physicians,
I.T experts, a Judge, a top policewoman, entrepreneurs, an Import Specialist at
Customs and Border Protection, professors, two straight A students, and many others.
The parley provided President Buhari opportunity to bring them up to speed on
how and why Nigeria got into trouble, with an assurance that with all hands on
deck, including the best brains in the Diaspora, the country would bounce back
in the shortest possible time. “I am very pleased with this meeting,” President
Buhari stated. “Wherever you go in the world, you find highly competent and
outstanding Nigerians. They not only make great impact on their host countries
and communities, their financial remittances back home also help our economy,
particularly at a time like this, when things are down.
“We got into trouble as a country, because we did not save
for the rainy day. For example, between 1999 and 2015, when we produced an
average of 2.1 million barrels of oil per day, and oil prices stood at an
average of $100 per barrel, we did not save, neither did we develop infrastructure.
Suddenly, when we came in 2015, oil prices fell to about 30 dollars per barrel.
“I asked; where are the savings? There were none. Where are the railways? The
roads? Power? None. I further asked; what did we do with billions of dollars
that we made over the years? They said we bought food. Food with billions of
dollars? I did not believe, and still do not believe. “In most parts of
Nigeria, we eat what we grow. People in the South eat tubers, those in the
North eat grains, which they plant, and those constitute over 60 per cent of
what we eat. So, where did the billions of dollars go? We did a lot of damage
to ourselves by not developing infrastructure when we had the money. “Talking
of our military, they earned respect serving in places like Burma, Zaire,
Sudan, Liberia, Sierra-Leone, and then, suddenly, that same military could no
longer secure 14 out of 774 local governments in the country. Insurgents had
seized them, calling them some sort of caliphate, and planting their flags
there; till we came, and scattered them. “We raised the morale of our military,
changed the leadership, re-equipped and retrained them; USA, Britain, and some
other countries helped us, and today, the pride of our military is restored.
“Boko Haram ran riot, killing innocent people in churches, mosques, markets,
schools, motor parks, and so on. And they would then shout Allahu Akbar. But if
they truly knew Allah, they would not do such evil. Neither Islam, nor any
other religion I know of, advocates hurting the innocent. But they shed
innocent blood, killed people in their thousands. Now, we have dealt with that
insurgency, and subverted their recruitment base.”
“But I prayed so hard for God to make me President. I ran in
2003, 2007, 2011, and in 2015, He did. And see what I met on ground. But I
can’t complain, since I prayed for the job. In the military, I rose from 2nd
Lieutenant to Major-General. I was military governor in 1975 over a state that
is now six states. I was head of state, got detained for three years, and
headed the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF), which had N53 billion of that time in
Nigerian banks. “God has been very good to me, so I can’t complain. If I feel
hurt by anybody, I ask God to help me forgive. He has done so much for me.
“After 16 years of a different party in government, no party will come and have
things easy. It’s human. We need quality hands to run Nigeria, and we will
utilize them. I will like to welcome you home when it’s time. But I’ll like you
to be ready.” All the Nigerian professionals pledged to contribute their quota
towards re-launching their fatherland to a new dawn.
No comments:
Post a Comment