President Muhammadu Buhari has said that he would not like to be a burden on anyone that will succeed him after 2023 by turning himself into political godfather.
He made it clear that anybody who wants to succeed him must work hard the same way he did, three times, before he finally got the power through the help of technology.
President Buhari, who spoke today, July 30, as he received in audience, members of the Progressive in Academics (Pro-Acad) at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, stressed that he would be creating problems for anyone he picks now to succeed him.
Responding to the point raised by members of the group that he should start to groom a young person who would replace him when his second term tenure expires in 2023, Buhari said that no one should think that he can just become president overnight.
“To me, this (issue of choosing a successor) is very funny. I think if I identify anybody I will create more problem for him or for her. So, I would rather keep my mouth shut. Let those who would want to be president try as much as I did. And I believe that those who are interested know that I tried three times. And the first time, I thank God and technology, PVC. Before, they would just go to the television and they read the results. They would say anybody who disagreed should go to court. And most of my supporters are looking for next day’s meal. They don’t have money to give to lawyers. So I said God dey. So, the fourth time, God and technology came along through PVC. They couldn’t rig the election so I won. This time around…I tried to work hard but I think you have a lot more to do as intellectuals so that you correctly document Nigeria’s political developments. It is very important for the next generation. A lot of our young chaps are taking things for granted. “Imagine to contest election three times ending up in Supreme Court three times. It needs a lot of conviction you know, and hard work. “But people take success for granted. They say, ah, he’s the President. They think I just closed my eyes and I got it?”
Responding to the issue of education and the almajiri in the country, the president said: “Nigerians overwhelmingly voted for progress, they decided not to go back to the dark days of impunity and corruption.
“Education remains a top priority for our government. In the last four years, we injected over N1 trillion into education through the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Tertiary Education Trust Fund (Tetfund) and our needs assessment interventions.
“We also released N25 billion to public universities to pay earned academic allowances to lecturers. “Of course, you are all aware of the rot we uncovered at JAMB and many other institutions. “Our home grown school feeding programme covering more than two million children couple with our social investment initiative has encouraged many parents to send their children to school and also pay for more teachers in classrooms.
“In the next four years, we shall continue with the work to transform the sector bearing in mind our high population growth rate, financial challenges and security issues especially those grossly affected areas. “Simply put, our focus and agenda can only be sustained if we have educated and secured society. Therefore, we have no choice but to produce more engineers, technicians, doctors, nurses and the teachers. “To achieve this, we shall continue to seek your advise and guidance. I am pleased to note some of the ideas you proposed, this submission is timely as we prepare for the next level.”
