President Buhri today said those who stole Nigeria dry are angry with
his government and so have recruited the services of militants in the
Niger Delta to fight his government. He said this while addressing a
group of Nigerians professionals residing in the US.
"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"he said
On Boko Haram, he said
"They 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.
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. 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."he said
No comments:
Post a Comment