President Muhammadu Buhari has said if
anybody has a country to go to, let him go,
as "we will stay here and salvage our
country."
According to a statement by the Senior
Special Assistant to the President on Media
and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, Buhari
stated this on Tuesday, November 1st, at the
State House in Abuja during a high-level
meeting with leaders and other stakeholders
to seek ways to end the militancy and the
sabotage of oil infrastructure in the Niger
Delta region.
The President, who did not read from a
prepared speech, pitched a vision of unity
and progress for the country in which peace
reigns. He said peace, security, investment
and prosperity are linked together, adding
that "if we give peace a chance, investors will
come here to invest. Nobody will invest in an
insecure environment"
In a speech dripping with nationalist fervor,
President Buhari said the problems his
administration found on the ground were
many, as illustrated in collapse of oil prices,
inability of 27 of the 36 states of the
Federation to pay salaries, absence of
savings to fall back and having to deal with
an elite who didn’t seem to care. All these, he
said, made his government to conclude that:
"life as usual is no longer affordable."
While welcoming the 16-point request
presented for negotiation by the Niger Delta
leaders, President Buhari said he was still
expecting reports from officials he had
instructed to review the implementation of
the Amnesty program to determine where
government fell short so that amends can be
made.
The President said the service chiefs were
putting together their own assessment of the
militancy situation, saying “when I have
these reports, including this one (just
presented), we will revisit the situation (in
the region) to ensure that we succeed this
time."
He however cautioned the leaders of the
Delta that they had more to do than anyone
else to bring peace to the region, given the
influence they have on militant groups.
He expressed the determination of his
administration to stay focused on its key
campaign promises of securing the country,
fighting corruption and creating jobs through
the improvement of the economy.
"We are determined to make life
comfortable and affordable to all
Nigerians. If anybody has a country to
go to, let him go, we will stay here and
salvage our country."
The President who delivered his report card
on the war against corruption and the efforts
to secure the country repeated his call to the
Niger Delta leaders to join the administration
in bringing peace to the troubled region.
"Please Your Excellencies, Your
Majesties, Distinguished ladies and
gentlemen; we all have our individual
constituencies. Let us try to pacify our
constituencies. Let us first recover our
country, secure the country and let us
invite people who will invest. Let us
create jobs for our people and let us
be accountable to our people where
we are sitting on treasuries, whether it
is local government, state or the
center. We should ensure that we
rebuild this country. Nobody wants to
fail. So, the only way out is, if people
understand and believe that we are
doing our best at all levels, then we
will have some peace. But it they have
reason to doubt our performance and
sincerity, then we will have problem