President Muhammadu Buhari has confessed that he had wanted to throw in the towel immediately after he came into power last year because of the mountain of problems he met.
“Actually, I felt like absconding because 27 out of 36 states in Nigeria cannot pay salaries and and we know they have no other source than to depend on salaries to pay rent and do other things.
“I asked if there was any saving and I was told there was no saving. I asked what they did on agriculture, power, rails and roads. There was nothing. You know more than I do because you move around. I have not been moving around since after elections but you do. How many of the Trunk A roads are still good enough? How many power do we have although there are some elements of sabotage?”
President Buhari who spoke today, Thursday, when he hosted participants of the National Institute for Strategic Studies, Kuru, near Jos the Plateau state capital, went on: “I was told the money was used to import food and fuel. I didn’t believe the answer and I still do not believe it. Uptil now, a substantial number of people in the East eat garri and groundnut; in the West they eat pounded yam, cassava, vegetables; in the North, they eat tuwo which is made from any of the grains: millet, sorghum. They eat it in the night and warm it in the morning and eat it and take fura in the afternoon. How many of those people can afford foreign food?
“Then they said I should check out the petroleum sector. The legislature dedicated 445,000 barrels per day for internal consumption and that is just 60 percent of our requirements. I said ok, what of the 40 percent? The marketers that are bringing it just present documents, papers are just stamped and monies are taken away.
“This is the type of things that the Nigerian elites are doing for our own country. When you go back, look at your colleagues and encourage them to be truly Nigerians.” [myad]
