President Muhammadu Buhari’s indirect admission in faraway Washington DC of how difficult it has been administering Nigeria in the face of numerous challenges confronting the country is both sobering and instructive for all Nigerians, especially for the electorate in the forthcoming 2023 general elections.

The President, whose supporters had always either spuriously claimed he had performed excellently or blamed the previous government whenever they were confronted with incontrovertible facts of shortcomings of this administration, confessed he has done his best in tackling Nigeria’s problems; that Nigeria is big in size and population, and therefore faces many challenges.

Buhari, who spoke while receiving the Secretary-General of the Abu Dhabi Forum, Sheikh Al-Mahfoudh Bin Bayyah, and his deputy, Pastor Bob Roberts of the United States who visited him in Washington DC, further confessed that Nigeria needs a generation of youths devoid of extremism and bigotry. He described the youths as the hope or promise of a better Nigeria.

By acknowledging how tough it has been for his government to tackle these challenges and admitting that Nigeria needs young people as leaders in order to make progress, President Buhari has shifted from his former views and attitude, especially the view that Nigerian youths are lazy.

By these new admissions, the President has set himself on the path of reconciliation with majority Nigerians who are unhappy with him for the way he has piloted the affairs of Nigeria in nearly eight years.

However, it is not over until it is over. President Buhari still has a few months before his tenure ends, and perhaps, those remaining few months are going to be the most crucial in shaping the future of Nigeria. What happens between now and the 2023 elections may determine Nigeria’s future.

The President has a significant role to play in ensuring that the 2023 election is free and fair. After that, he must also ensure that power is smoothly transited to the party that emerges victorious in a free and fair election. These are his last duties to his country, Africa and conscientious humanity.

Despite the challenges and difficulties of the past seven years, there are enough reasons to believe that this is the new direction the President is headed, especially with his recent promises to conduct a free and fair election in 2023.

For whatever reasons, God has been kind to President Buhari; Nigeria and Nigerians have also been kind to him. It will only be fair for the President to use this rapidly approaching opportunity to set the country that has abundantly blessed him on the path of progress. That opportunity is to conduct a free and fair election, and smoothly hand over to the winners.