By our reporter/ President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday pleaded for understanding from as his administration grapples with the challenges of hardship in the country.
Buhari who made the appeal while sending greetings across on the occasion of Eid-el-Adha, attributed the current challenges facing the country to COVID-19 pandemic, insecurity and flooding that hindered local production for self- sustenance.
The President reteirated the renewed determination of his government to create a just, harmonious and prosperous country in which the safety of life and property is assured.
“Apart from the destruction caused to rice farms by floods, middlemen have also taken advantage of the local rice production to exploit fellow Nigerians, thereby undermining our goal of supporting local food production at affordable prices,” Buhari said.
“As an elected president who enjoys the goodwill of the ordinary people that gave us their mandate, let me assure you that we are continuing with measures to bring relief to Nigerians, including making fertilizer available at affordable prices to our farmers.
“The current insecurity in the country “has produced severe and adverse effects on agriculture because farmers are prevented from accessing their farms by bandits and terrorists.
“Let me also use this opportunity to reassure Nigerians that we are taking measures to address our security challenges. We have started taking delivery of fighter aircraft and other necessary military equipment and hardware to improve the capacity of our security forces to confront terrorism and banditry,” he added.
President Buhari, while speaking on the significance of the Eid-El-Kabir celebration, appealed to Muslims “to demonstrate the good virtues of Islam through personal examples and practices.
Buhari, who extolled sacrifices of Nigerians, however, said that: “Taking advantage of the celebration to exploit fellow citizens through outrageous prices of food and rams is inconsistent with fine virtues of Islam.
“As practising believers, we shouldn’t seek obscene profits by making life difficult and miserable for others. We should not seek happiness at the expense of others. Remember that Islam is a religion of charity that urges us to love our neighbour as we love ourselves.
“I urge all Muslims to continue to live in peace and harmony with their fellow Nigerians of other faiths in the spirit of peaceful coexistence. Let us pray for the progress of Nigeria at all times. Let us expose undesirable elements among us who are creating security problems for the country
“No government in our recent history has invested as heavily as we are doing to promote local production of about 20 other commodities, through the provision of loans and several other forms of support to our farmers,” he said.
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