- Berates Nigerian elites for keeping quiet under years of misrule
The Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari launched an attack on the Nigerian elites for their silence during the period of what he termed “misrule” under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
Buhari said the elites kept quiet while the country was mismanaged by the PDP for 16 years, then turned around to accuse him of being too slow.
The President said this at a meeting he had with Nigerian community in the United States of America on Thursday in New York, said the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina.
Buhari claimed he had been conscious of Nigerians because of the way they had been standing by him.
He said during his time in the Petroleum Trust Fund, roads were made from Lagos to Abuja, adding that since 1999 and 2015, the roads where abandoned.
The President said, “They (Nigerian elite) didn’t say a word. Under the PTF (Petroleum Trust Fund, of which he was Chairman), we did roads from Lagos to Abuja, to Onitsha, to Port Harcourt.
“Since then, the roads were not done, between 1999 and 2015, yet the elite did not say a word.
“I was called Baba Go Slow. Those who were going fast, where did they get to?”
The President openly confessed to how he applied stick approach during his time as the Head of State in 1983. This will be the first time Buhari has come clean to what he did as a Head of State.
He said “In 1983, military officers gathered and made me Head of State.
I packed the politicians into jail, told them they were guilty until they could prove their innocence. We seized what they had looted, but after I myself was put in detention, the politicians were given back what they had looted. How many elites complained about that?
“Three times I contested elections; three times I went to court after the elections were rigged against me. No justice, but I said ‘God dey.’
“It was mainly the ordinary people that stood by me. That is why I am always conscious of them. They are my constituency. Even pregnant women on the queue would fall into labour, go to have their babies, and still come back to vote for me. I will keep doing my best for the country.”
The President assured that he would “leave some difference in the office” if he wins the 2019 election
Present at the meeting where Nigeria top-flight professionals drawn from different fields like medicine, engineering, sports, the arts, investment, academia, politics, agriculture, transport, education, publishing and many others.
The attendees expressed their desire to return home and contribute to the change in Nigeria.
Buhari in his swift response urged them to invest in their constituency by assisting in Education.
“If you want to help back home, invest in education in your constituencies. If you educate people, they won’t then accept nonsense from anybody.” He said.
