President Buhari said that the Niger Delta militants are sponsored to
fight his government by people who have milked Nigeria dry and are
angry with his government.
President Buhari said
this while addressing a group
of Nigerians professionals who reside in the US.
"We got into trouble as a
country, because we did
not save for the rainy day.
For example, between
1999 and 2015, when we
produced an average of
2.1 million barrels of oil
per day, and oil prices
stood at an average of $
100 per barrel, we did
not save, neither did we
develop infrastructure.
Suddenly, when we came
in 2015, oil prices fell to
about 30 dollars per
barrel. I asked; where are
the savings? There were
none.
Where are the railways?
The roads? Power? None.
I further asked; what did
we do with billions of
dollars that we made over
the years? They said we
bought food. Food with
billions of dollars? I did
not believe, and still do
not believe. In most parts
of Nigeria, we eat what
we grow. People in the
South eat tubers, those in
the North eat grains,
which they plant, and
those constitute over 60
per cent of what we eat.
So, where did the billions
of dollars go? We did a lot
of damage to ourselves
by not developing
infrastructure when we
had the money. Talking of
our military, they earned
respect serving in places
like Burma, Zaire, Sudan,
Liberia, Sierra-Leone, and
then, suddenly, that same
military could no longer
secure 14 out of 774 local
governments in the
country. Insurgents had
seized them, calling them
some sort of caliphate,
and planting their flags
there; till we came, and
scattered them. We raised
the morale of our military,
changed the leadership,
re-equipped and
retrained them; USA,
Britain, and some other
countries helped us, and
today, the pride of our
military is restored"he
said
On Boko Haram, he said
"They ran riot, killing
innocent people in
churches, mosques,
markets, schools, motor
parks, and so on. And
they would then shout
Allahu Akbar. But if they
truly knew Allah, they
would not do such evil.
Neither Islam, nor any
other religion I know of,
advocates hurting the
innocent. But they shed
innocent blood, killed
people in their thousands.
Now, we have dealt with
that insurgency, and
subverted their
recruitment base. Those
who stole Nigeria dry are
not happy. They recruited
the militants against us in
the Niger Delta, and
began to sabotage oil
infrastructure. We lose
millions of barrels per
day, at a time when every
dollar we can earn,
counts. It is a disgrace
that a minimum of 27
states, out of 36 that we
have in Nigeria, can't pay
salaries. But I prayed so
hard for God to make me
President. I ran in 2003,
2007, 2011, and in 2015,
He did. And see what I
met on ground. But I
can't complain, since I
prayed for the job. In the
military, I rose from 2nd
Lieutenant to Major-
General. I was military
governor in 1975 over a
state that is now six
states. I was head of
state, got detained for
three years, and headed
the Petroleum Trust Fund
(PTF), which had N53
billion of that time in
Nigerian banks. God has
been very good to me, so
I can't complain. If I feel
hurt by anybody, I ask
God to help me forgive.
He has done so much for
me. After 16 years of a
different party in
government, no party will
come and have things
easy. It's human. We need
quality hands to run
Nigeria, and we will utilize
them. I will like to
welcome you home when
it's time. But I'll like you to
be ready."he said
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