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President Muhammadu Buhari
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President Muhammadu
Buhari has said that the resolve of his administration to fight corruption was
not just for moral reasons, but also for the soul of the country. He also said that the
Boko Haram insurgents no longer had the strength to occupy the North-East or
any other part of the country.
Buhari
made the statements yesterday while speaking at the second plenary meeting of
the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), held at the Catholic
Pastoral Centre, Igwurita, near Port Harcourt.
The
meeting was attended by Rivers State governor, Chief Ezebunwo Nyesom Wike,
prelate of the Methodist Church of Nigeria, Dr Samuel Uche and the archbishop,
Province of Niger Delta (Anglican Communion), Most Rev Ignatius Kattey.
Leadership report continues:
The
president said, “Our fight against corruption is not just a moral battle of
virtue and righteousness in our land, but it is a fight for the soul and
substance of our nation. Corruption in our country is so endemic that it
constitutes a parallel system. It is the primary reason for poor policies,
wastage and barefaced theft of public resources. It is the main reason why a
potentially prosperous country struggles to feed itself and provide jobs for
millions of its people.
“Hundreds
of thousands in infant and maternal mortality statistics, hundreds of thousands
deaths from communicable diseases are traceable to the greed and corruption of
a few.”
Buhari,
who was represented by the vice president, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, said two thirds
of Nigerians lived in extreme poverty.
He
said, “We must trade the paradigm of thinking about our economy and the
ultimate goal of the majority for one that will create an enabling environment
for enterprises. We must reason, plan and budget with the understanding that
two thirds of Nigerians are poor. They must be helped, first to survive and
then fully participate in the economy of the nation.
“Consequently,
we must create tenets for the very poor and vulnerable, while ensuring that
social spending also resurrects investment in the economy. We must invest
substantially in relevant education, teachers training and vocational and
entrepreneurial training.
“The
country is today experiencing its worst economic situation in decades. A
terrible combination of waste, corruption and severe downturn in all earnings
has drastically reduced our esteemed resources. We must urgently now find it in
investing in infrastructure and all crucial components in the medium and
long-term means of diversifying our economy. Meanwhile, we must block all
leakages and improve on our revenue base.”
The
president stated that with vigilance and local intelligence, the military would
make it impossible for Boko Haram insurgents to regroup in the North-East or
any other part of the country.
He
said, “On security, we are on course to militarily rout Boko Haram and make them
incapable of taking over any territory. Suicide bombings in some parts of the
North East are desperate acts of terrorists to create a sense that they are
still in play. But with vigilance and local intelligence, we will make these
cowardly acts practically impossible.
“We
must however now turn our attention to the enormous task of de-radicalization
and re-orientation of the young people who had been led to believe in the
rhetoric of Boko Haram. Part of the task that we have is in deconstructing the
hopeless socio-economic circumstances that make young men and women rebel
against their own society when they cannot see a future for themselves.”
Earlier,
in his opening address, the president of CBCN, Most Rev Ignatius Kaigama
expressed hope that with a new administration in power, Nigeria’s wasted
opportunities would be recovered. Kaigama, who is also the archbishop of Jos
said, “As a Church, we continue to pray and preach that Nigerians should be
altruistic and patriotic rather than being selfish and narcissistic. The
tendency to promote, defend and protect narrow, personal, economic, regional
and religious interests has been responsible for our unstable national journey
of one step forward and many steps backwards.
“With the new
administration in our nation, we have another window of opportunity and we hope
we shall achieve the positive change that has become a national mantra. Our
wasted opportunities must be recovered.”
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