President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, has called on Nigerians expecting so much from him to temper such expectations with justice.
Speaking Sunday in Abuja when he received a delegation of Northern elders led by Maitama Sule, Mr. Buhari said his emergence as president came at “the wrong time” due to the enormous challenges his administration would face.
Mr. Buhari said the Peoples Democratic Party had virtually destroyed the country during its 16 year reign.
“”You know that we used to have Nigerian Airways, Nigeria National Shipping Line and Nigeria Railways. Where are they now? Where is the infrastructure?
“Now we have invariably inherited all the problems, especially in the north east. I am sure that you have heard about or seen the children recovered from Sambisa forest. Only the children and women are remaining while all the able-bodied men have been gotten rid of somehow. Some have been taken to as far as Adamawa state to be resettled. A generation has been denied education and health care. Infrastructure has gone.
“You can imagine what is happening in the high seas where up to 400,000 barrels of crude oil which we rely on is stolen everyday with the full cooperation of those who are supposed to protect it.
The price of oil has gone down and 90 percent of the foreign exchange we rely on comes from that.
“So, you have to convince your constituencies that we have virtually arrived at the wrong time and that they have to temper their expectation with some justice towards the leadership,” he said.
The President-elect urged the visiting northern elders to deliver his message in churches and mosques, saying that is the fastest way to communicate to ordinary Nigerians.
He said the people should always be reminded of the promises he made during the campaign which include the provision of security to the populace, employment for the youth and provision of infrastructure.
“The fact is that more than 60 percent of the Nigerian population are youth and most of them, whether they have been to school or not, are unemployed and this is the biggest danger.
“So, there must be jobs for these people as quickly as possible for us to even enjoy relative peace. So, security, getting job for these people and putting the infrastructures in place especially power,” he said.
Mr. Buhari also said as a human being he might make mistakes, adding that what is paramount is to ensure that justice prevails at all times.
“The biggest message is to try and persuade the people that it is not possible to change the state of affairs now. It took 16 years and those 16 years, most of you know it better than myself, that Nigeria earned revenue more than what it earned from 1914 till then,” he said.
Mr. Buhari said he plans to quickly turn to agriculture and mining because it is the fastest way to get results.
“In other areas, you need to study them and dust all the books and studies and get people who are experienced, committed, who are technocrats to come and help the government and identify priorities so that with what is available to us, we can quickly make our people realize their hope for the government they have chosen,” he said.
The President-elect said he was particularly elated with the support he is getting from the International Community.
“One of the relieves I got was the telephone call I got from the President of the United States,” Mr. Buhari said. “I could feel the relief in their voices because they are people of conscience. Forget about religion, colour and development.
“They are people of conscience because they have reached a stage where they have stabilized their society and they are relatively secured both materially, physically and otherwise. They know we are in danger.
“Everybody was saying that Nigeria is going to the dogs in 2015, but even beyond our expectations, we have managed to go through and we thank technology for PVC and card readers because the whole exercise of writing the result, announcing them and asking losers to go to court does not make any difference.
“Those who defended the PVC and card readers made this change possible,” Buhari said.
Speaking earlier, the leader of the delegation, Maitama Sule, said the elders visited to formally congratulate Mr. Buhari on his victory at the poll.
He also said they came to inform the President-elect of the huge expectations from Nigerians and urged him to remain who he is and ensure justice and fairness to all, irrespective of regional or political affiliation.
Mr. Sule said the emergence of Mr. Buhari is an act of God because of the persistent prayers of ordinary Nigerians.
“Nobody expected that the elections would be peaceful, nobody expected that the elections would not lead to the disintegration of the country. By the grace of God, the elections were held peacefully. We are living in peace with one another by the grace of God, power will also be handed over to you and we will be living peaceful thereafter by the grace of God,” he said.
Mr. Sule said he had consistently called for peaceful revolution in Nigeria and that the election that produced Mr. Buhari as president was a peaceful revolution.
He described Mr. Buhari as a man of God, a truthful personality, a man of integrity and discipline.
“Yes, you (Buhari) were a military leader, I have always said it that when you were a military leader, you instilled discipline into our society. You fought corruption and you gave Nigeria a sense of direction.
“I am sure you will not compromise your principle but you will bring justice, wisdom and diplomacy,” he said.
“Sir, it is easy, I know it was easy when you were a military leader and what made it easy was justice. With justice, you can rule Nigeria well. Justice is the key, irrespective of tribes, religion and race; justice must be done to whom so ever deserve it
“Mr. President-elect sir, we know what we have gone through, I will ask you not to discriminate against any part of Nigeria but I will urge you to do justice to all part of Nigeria
“Mr president sir, I know you believe that one day you will stand before God to give account of everything you have done here on earth, I will rather prefer that you disappoint me than to disappoint God, your creator,” he said.
