President Muhammadu Buhari has told those attacking oil assets in the Niger Delta to drop such idea and work with his administration on how the country’s resources will be managed.
Speaking when he received residents of Abuja led by Muhammed Bello, minister of the federal capital territory (FCT), on Christmas Day, Buhari said the country’s citizenry “are always uppermost in our minds”.
“I want you to talk to people to be patient with the government. We are always thinking about our country and we are thinking about our people,” he said.
“God has given Nigerians a lot of preachers and resources but human and materials, we better do the same thing for our children and grandchildren.
“I assure you that the country and the people of the country are always uppermost in our minds. Our performance in the north-east, Nigerians know that this government is serious.
“For our friends in the Niger Delta area, we will persuade them that they should please sit down with us and agree to manage our resources rather than think of fighting it out.”
Buhari said without security, nothing could work in the country.
He said Nigerians would get jobs if the country’s infrastructure was improved upon.
“The first is security, and we kept on saying whether it is an organisation or a country, we have to first secure it before we can manage it properly. Without security, nothing can work,” he said.
“Secondly, the economy and the unemployment of able-bodied persons. We look at the left and right, from 1999 to 2014, the crude production was over 2.2m barrels per day. The average cost per barrel was $100.
“When we came, it was $37. I think it is now between $40 and $50. I asked for savings, there was no saving. I asked them what they used the money to buy, they said they bought food and oil. I do not know how long it took me to recover from the shock.
“Some of you will recall either by history or discussion that it was cocoa, perm kernel, cotton, agro allied industry that we used to build infrastructures, be it rail or school.
“We also used the proceeds to develop oil. When we got the oil, we threw everything away. We thank God this year, the harvest was quite good, otherwise, I do not know what we would have done.
“There was no money saved, no infrastructure built, and power is still our main problem. Old roads have dilapidated and they needed to be repaired from Lagos to Kano, Port Harcourt up to Maiduguri. There are rail lines we want to develop from Lagos to Calabar, from Lagos to Kaduna and the Abuja one.
“If we can get the infrastructure done, we cannot even know the number of Nigerians that will get job. So we have to get infrastructure. It will take tankers and other articulated vehicles off the road, we will save vehicles and we will save lives and we will get jobs for a lot of Nigerians.”
Also speaking, Jonah Samson, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, FCT chapter, urged Buhari to continue his war against corruption.
“Corruption is a canker worm. It is a terrible thing that we must kill. We urge you to ensure that the war continues. It should not end during this administration,” Samson said.
“We thank God for the victory over Boko Haram. It is a thing of joy worthy of celebration.”
via TheCable
