Olalekan Adetayo, Abuja
President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday
appealed to the militants vandalising oil installations in the Niger
Delta to come to the negotiation table in order to end their arms
campaign in the oil-rich Niger Delta.
Buhari said this would afford both the
government and the militants the opportunity to decide how the nation’s
resources could be managed instead of agitators picking up arms against
their fatherland.
Regretting that the problems he
identified during the campaigns that preceded the 2015 presidential
election, which he won, still lingered even with him in the saddle for
almost 18 months, the President appealed to Nigerians to be patient with
his government.
Buhari spoke when residents of the
Federal Capital Territory, led by the Minister, Muhammad Bello, paid him
a Christmas visit at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The President said Nigeria and its
citizens were uppermost in his mind, stating that he would continue to
do all within his powers to improve their living conditions.
He said, “I want you to talk to people
to be patient with the government. We are always thinking about our
country and we are thinking about our people.
“I assure you that the country and the
people of the country are always uppermost in our minds. With our
performance in the North-East, Nigerians know that this government is
serious.
“For our friends in the Niger Delta
area, we will persuade them that they should please sit down with us and
agree to manage our resources rather than think of fighting it out.”
While saying that the problems he
identified during campaigns were still the nation’s fundamental
problems, Buhari specifically identified power and lack of
infrastructure as major challenges.
He regretted that during the oil boom, the nation’s handlers at that time failed to save for a rainy day.
He noted that while proceeds from
agriculture were used to develop oil, he lamented that agriculture was
discarded immediately oil started yielding resources for the country.
The President promised that his
administration would concentrate on infrastructure development, saying
jobs would be created through the process.
Buhari added, “It is about 18 months
since we resumed here. I believe some of you followed us during our
campaigns and what we identified are still fundamental problems.
“The first is security, and we kept on
saying whether it is an organisation or a country, we have to first
secure it before we can manage it properly. Without security, nothing
can work.
“Secondly, the economy and the
unemployment of able-bodied persons. From 1999 to 2014, the crude
production was over 2.2m barrels per day. The average cost per barrel
was $100.
“When we came, it was $37. I think it is
now between $40 and $50. I asked for savings, there was no saving. I
asked them what they used the money to buy, they said they bought food
and oil. I do not know how long it took me to recover from the shock.
“Some of you will recall either by
history or discussion that it was cocoa, palm kernel, cotton, agro
allied industry that we used to build infrastructure, be it rail or
school.
“We also used the proceeds to develop
oil. When we got the oil, we threw everything away. We thank God this
year, the harvest was quite good; otherwise, I do not know what we would
have done.
“There was no money saved, no
infrastructure built, and power is still our main problem. Old roads are
dilapidated and they need to be repaired from Lagos to Kano, Port
Harcourt up to Maiduguri. There are rail lines we want to develop from
Lagos to Calabar, from Lagos to Kaduna and the Abuja one.
“If we can get the infrastructure done,
we cannot even know the number of Nigerians that will get jobs. So, we
have to get infrastructure. It will take tankers and other articulated
vehicles off the road; we will save vehicles and we will save lives and
we will get jobs for a lot of Nigerians.”
Bello, in his opening remarks, commended
Buhari for the success recorded by the nation’s troops that cleared
Sambisa Forest of insurgents last week.
“We are very proud of this milestone and
we prayed that Boko Haram never rears its head in any part of the
country again,” the minister said.
Also, the Chairman of the Christians
Association of Nigeria, FCT branch, Rev. Jonah Samson, said they were in
the Presidential Villa to identify with Buhari and commend him for his
leadership, which he said had impacted positively on Nigerians.
Samson particularly commended the President for his administration’s anti-corruption war.
He expressed the hope that the anti-graft war would not end with this administration.
Samson said, “Corruption is a
cankerworm. It is a terrible thing that we must kill. We urge you to
ensure that the war continues. It should not end during this
administration.
“We thank God for the victory over Boko Haram. It is a thing of joy worthy of celebration.”
The minister and his aides later presented a giant greeting card to Buhari.
Representatives of the Aso Villa Chapel also presented a card and locally-made artworks to the President.
Speaking with State House correspondents
at the end of the visit, the Senator representing FCT, Philip Aduda,
urged Nigerians to support the present administration.
Aduda expressed the hope that 2017 would be better for the nation.
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