I can't change Nigeria overnight - President-elect Buhari

For the second time in a week, President-elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday said that the change which Nigerians expect from his incoming administration would not be realised overnight.

Buhari hinged his assertion on the fact that governing Nigeria will be difficult for him because of the magnitude of the problems on ground.

He stated this in Yola, Adamawa State yesterday, during a Town Hall meeting and campaign for All Progressives Congress, APC candidates in Saturday’s Governorship and State House of Assembly elections.

Only last Sunday, the President-elect had told the British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC, that Nigerians should not expect miracles from him.

In the interview, which Nigerian Pilot exclusively reported on Monday, Buhari said:

''For five, six years, the Nigerian law enforcement agencies, including the military, couldn't secure 14 local governments in the North-East geopolitical zone. How can I promise miracles when I come? But with the cooperation of our neighbours: Cameroon, Chad, Niger and the international community, and the commitment we are going to get from the military, I think it will take us a much shorter time to deal with it.''

The BBC had in a report last week said that Buhari had promised to end Boko Haram insurgency within two months. But his party, APC refuted the report, claiming that the President-elect never gave a timeline to crush the terrorists.

But Buhari in Yola yesterday, declared that “governing Nigeria will be seriously difficult” because of what he termed “colossal rape of its economy and leadership deficit” by the outgoing ruling People’s Democratic Party, PDP.

He said that for Nigeria to get out of the woods there should be commitment and perseverance in the leadership of the country, adding that’’ the new government will do its best to fix things in the right perspective.’’

Buhari, who thanked Nigerians for casting their votes for APC en-masse during the last Presidential and National Assembly polls, said the country is endowed with human and natural resources , “but unfortunately, the resources were mismanaged and squandered, leading to the present situation being experienced in the land.

“Though many expect that things will change in a day or weeks, it’s not so; this is because it will take us years to amend changes. Nigerians are in a haste; people should not see the change that we are championing as a twinkle of an eye, we need prayers and patience for us to succeed,’’ Buhari said.

He described corruption as a cancer that stymies progress in the country and vowed to fight the scourge head-on in order to salvage the country from the throes of economic bankruptcy.

“We need to fight corruption squarely for Nigeria to move forward. We will run a transparent government, in doing so, I will not favour my family,’’ Buhari stated.

The President-elect, who was accompanied by the APC National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and other party officials to the meeting, campaigned for the party’s candidates in Saturday’s elections.

He said: “I thank you for your votes and I appeal to you to vote for APC candidates in the remaining elections in the state. We believe in you and we know that your support will enable us serve you better and that is why we are appealing to you to vote for APC governorship candidate, Umaru Mohammed Bindow and all the House of Assembly members.”

At the meeting, some kingpins of PDP in the state, Dr. Silas Zwingina, Dr. Idi Aliyu Hong, Sadiq Haske (Walin Ganye), Umaru ‘Calculate’ Jada, decamped to APC.

Buhari had earlier visited the Lamido Adamawa, Dr. Muhammadu Barkindo Aliyu Musdafa.

Source: Nigerian Pilot