President Muhammadu Buhari has said the insecurity in the monolithic North-west, where people are speaking the same language and share a common faith, amazes him. Buhari said this yesterday while receiving some governors of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) at his country home in Daura, Katsina State. According to a release by his spokesman, Mallam Garba Shehu, Buhari also implored historians and intellectuals to be factual in documenting the records of his administration with a view to guiding the electorate in making right leadership choices in the future.

He said he had been able to improve on the security situation across the country given the instability he met on ground in the North-east and the South-south region when he assumed power in 2015. He, however, added that: “The subsequent development in the North West is the most amazing, where people who lived together, speak the same language and share a common faith started killing each other and rustling cows.

“I had to change the security chiefs and we had to get down to the fundamentals of providing security. If you look at the situation in relation to time and resources, you will find out what we have been able to achieve.” Buhari stressed that his government was able to do more with less considering the plunge in the price of crude from more than $100 to less than $38 per barrel as well as the crash in output from 2.1 mbpd to about 500,000bpd under his administration. On the assessment of his government by critics, Buhari urged historians and intellectuals to provide analyses of situations, bearing in mind what was obtainable before his assumption of power.

“For the time remaining, and for those who have one more term in office based on the provision of the constitution, the elections are important to the parties. Intellectuals and historians should be fair to us so that those who are looking for leadership positions will not exploit the political ignorance or lack of knowledge of the people,” he said. The President told the governors to remain steadfast on delivering their promises to the people.

Kebbi State Governor and Chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum, Atiku Abubakar Bagudu, thanked the President for providing vision and strong leadership for the APC, noting that the efforts to make agriculture the mainstay of the economy were yielding results. Bagudu said three governors, Prof. Ben Ayade of Cross River, David Umahi of Ebonyi and Bello Matawalle of Zamfara left their former party to join the APC because of the fatherliness, equitable character and focus of the President on bottom-up development. “We are proud to have you as our leader. Your achievements and ideals are inculcated in all of us,’’ he noted. Governors at the meeting with the President included Ben Ayade (Cross River), David Umahi (Ebonyi), Bello Matawalle (Zamfara), Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), who is also the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF), Aminu Bello Masari (Katsina), Simon Lalong (Plateau) and Abdullahi Ganduje (Kano). Others were Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos), Abubakar Sani Bello (Niger), Adegboyega Oyetola (Osun) and Abdullahi Sule (Nasarawa).

(New Telegraph)

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