President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday reacted to the increasing pressure on his government to effect pragmatic changes on the lives of Nigerians, saying there were no short-cuts to fixing the country.
Speaking in Beijing at a meeting with members of the Nigerian community in China, the president said the many decades of damage and destruction of the country could not be repaired overnight.
Buhari emphasised that his government’s vision of a diversified and inclusive economy would not be achieved overnight, saying, “It will be a long, and in some cases, painful journey.”
The president added that while he was very confident that the country would get there, that journey must start now.
“We hear proposals for short cuts or quick wins. However, all we need to do is look at our history to know that there are no quick wins or short cuts in fixing Nigeria. The many decades of damage and destruction cannot be repaired overnight”.
According to him, the reform programme of his administration is not because oil price is presently below $45 per barrel, but because when oil prices were over $100 per barrel, majority of Nigerians were still suffering.
“They (majority of Nigerians) were simply forgotten and left behind. So, our reforms are to ensure that the majority of Nigerians are not left behind,” he said.
The president assured that his government was working very hard to overcome current national challenges and deliver on its promise of a better Nigeria.
Buhari warned vandals and saboteurs blowing up oil and gas installations to desist immediately or face the same drastic action being taken against Boko Haram by the armed forces.
He reiterated his administration’s commitment to winning the anti-graft war, saying corruption was an arch-enemy of Nigeria which had destroyed the lives of many citizens.
He said: “I ask for your support to make our vision of stamping out corruption a reality in the shortest possible time. Whoever is caught will not be spared. The government is still being dared, but those who are sensible should have learnt a lesson. Those who are mad, let them continue in their madness.
“I am aware that in the past two weeks, the national grid collapsed a number of times. I hope this message will reach the vandals and saboteurs who are blowing up pipelines and installations. We will deal with them the way we dealt with Boko Haram,” he said.
Buhari assured that his administration was fulfilling its promise to improve security across the country.
“When we came into office in 2015, Boko Haram insurgents occupied 14 local government areas. Today, I am pleased to say the insurgents have been routed out of these local governments and their capacity to fight as a force has been significantly degraded. We will continue working hard to ensure that the group is eliminated. This is achievable. And we will not settle for anything less,” the president said.
