Chidi Samuel
President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday advised Nigerians who has another country to relocate to, to freely do so and leave people like himself who has resolved to stay back and fix the country’s numerous problems. The President made the call while addressing Niger Delta stakeholders at the Presidential Villa, Abuja . The Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, disclosed this in a statement.
“We are determined to make life comfortable and affordable to all Nigerians. If anybody has a country to go to, let him go, we will stay here and salvage our country,” Shehu quoted the President as saying.
The President, according to Shehu, told the leaders of the Niger Delta region that they, more than anyone else are in position to bring peace to the region, given their influence and hold on militant groups and expressed the determination of his administration to stay focused on its key campaign promises of securing the country, fighting corruption and creating jobs through the improvement of the economy.
The President added that peace, security, investment and prosperity are linked together, adding that “if we give peace a chance, investors will come here to invest. Nobody will invest in an insecure environment.”
He said the problems his administration found on the ground were many, hence the decision of his government to conclude that, “life as usual is no longer affordable.”
While welcoming the 16-point request presented for negotiation by the Niger Delta leaders, the President informed the elders that he was still expecting reports from officials mandated to review the implementation of the Amnesty programme to determine where government fell short and the way forward.
President Buhari also stated that the service chiefs were putting together assessment of the militancy situation, saying “when I have these reports, including this one (just presented), we will revisit the situation (in the region) to ensure that we succeed this time.”
