President Muhammadu Buhari is calling on the country’s historians and intellectuals to be fair in documenting his government, asking them to reflect on the level of insecurity in Nigeria before he assumed office.
He said this on Thursday when some governors under the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) paid Sallah homage to him in his hometown in Daura, Katsina State.
The 78-year-old noted that it would be unfortunate to mislead the electorate with lies, and personal bias, emphasising the need to put the larger interest of the country beyond other considerations.
“For the time remaining, and for those who have one more term in office based on the provision of the constitution, the elections are important to the parties,” one of his media aides, Garba Shehu, quoted him as saying.
“Intellectuals and historians should be fair to us so that those who are looking for leadership positions will not exploit the political ignorance or lack of knowledge of the people.”
President Buhari recalled that oil prices fell from more than $100 dollars to less than $38 under his government, with the output that was 2.1 million barrels a day dropping to about 500,000 barrels. In spite of these, he said his government was able to achieve much.
When compared to what his admiration met on the ground in 2015, Buhari argued that his government has done credibly well to secure the nation.
“The subsequent development in the North West is the most amazing, where people who lived together, spoke same language and shared common faith started killing each other and rustling cows,” the Nigerian leader added as he called on the governors to be steadfast in delivering quality governance to their people.
“I had to change the security chiefs and we had to get down to the fundamentals of providing security. If you look at the situation in relation to time and resources, you will find out what we have been able to achieve.”
Governors who visited Buhari’s country home included Prof Ben Ayade of Cross River, David Umahi of Ebonyi, Bello Matawalle of Zamfara, John Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti, who is Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum, Aminu Bello Masari of Katsina, Solomon Lalong of Plateau and Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano.
Others are Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos, Abubakar Sani Bello of Niger, Adegboyega Oyetola of Osun and Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa States.
