President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday blamed the previous administrations for the infrastructural challenge facing the country.

According to him, it is sad that infrastructure went to rot completely within the same period when Nigeria has ‘humongous resources’ at its disposal between 1999 and 2014.

“Our focus now is on infrastructure; roads, rail, power, and others,” said the President who received the outgoing British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Paul Arkwright, in a farewell audience at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

He added, “How I wish we had fixed all those when we had money. What we earned between 1999 and 2014 is on record, but nothing was done to infrastructure.

“Now, we are doing a lot more, with a lot less resources. And we shall continue to do our best.”

President Buhari commended the outgoing High Commissioner for his warm and pleasant disposition, which he said has seen him traversing almost the entire country.

“I always see you all over the place,” the President was quoted as saying in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina.

Arkwright, who spent more than three years in Nigeria, said he visited 30 of the 36 states and found the people quite enterprising and engaging.

He added that the British government would be glad to offer a helping hand as required in any part of the country.

The outgoing High Commissioner thanked President Buhari for his support, stressing that the relations between Britain and Nigeria have improved tremendously in the last three years.

President Buhari met with Arkwright after he hosted the Governor General of Canada, Julie Payette, at the State House.

During a meeting, the President told the Canadian leader that Nigeria’s democracy was improving steadily with a deeper understanding of the culture and tenets among the people.

He added that the country had been learning from the mistakes of those who practiced democracy for a longer period and by looking inward at its own peculiarities.

•Sourced from Channels TV report

•President Buhari with the Outgoing British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Paul Arkwright, at the State House on October 29, 2018.

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