Apparently wary about issues of interferences by foreign countries in political affairs over which African countries have exclusive competence, President Muhammadu Buhari has sent a strong message to the government of foreign powers, asking them not to meddle in Nigeria’s internal affairs.
Nigeria has been grappling with what it considers as foreign meddlesomeness in its internal affairs through malicious deployment of the internet.
This led to the face-off between the federal government and social network and microblogging site, Twitter, which was suspended indefinitely in June 2021 and reinstated in January last year, as well as the strong disapproval of unverified security alerts issued by certain embassies in the country.
As Nigerians prepare for another general election, Buhari told the governments of foreign powers to diplomatically confine their activities within the confines of their primary assignments in Nigeria.
The president spoke yesterday when he received letters of credence from Ambassadors of Switzerland, Sweden, Republic of Ireland, the Kingdom of Thailand, the Republic of Senegal and the Republic of South Sudan, at the State House.
‘‘I urge you to be guided by diplomatic practice to ensure that your activities remain within the limits of your profession as you monitor the build-up to the elections and the conduct of the general elections itself.
‘‘I wish you all success in your respective tours of duty and at the same time encourage you to take time to enjoy the unique nature and culture at your disposal as you travel across our country,’’ he said.
Buhari also said Nigeria is working closely with ECOWAS to deal with insecurity in the West African region as well as implementing strategies to contain the spate of unconstitutional changes in government.
He called for cooperation and collaboration from the countries to overcome challenges in West Africa.
Buhari invited friendly countries to ‘‘support efforts to address the problem of insecurity, fight against corruption, diversification of the economy, and our efforts in promoting good governance.’’
The president however told the Ambassadors that Nigeria enjoys very cordial and mutually beneficial bilateral relations and cooperation with their respective countries.
He commended the roles of their predecessors who demonstrated diligence and commitment to advance these causes.
‘‘I am therefore confident that your appointments are obviously deliberate to build on the successes of your immediate predecessors in order to advance our relations to significant and enviable heights.
“As you settle down to your diplomatic responsibilities, I am hopeful that you will appreciate the political, socio-economic and cultural diversities which are the hallmarks of the Nigerian nation
‘‘I encourage you to build friendships and take time to fraternise across the length and breadth of the country including interfacing with both the public and private sectors in bid to explore areas of mutual benefit to your respective countries and Nigeria.
‘‘Sectors such as Healthcare, Education, Infrastructure, Local Manufacturing, Pharmaceuticals, Agribusiness, Transportation, Solid Minerals are areas of particular interest to us and foreign investors alike.
‘‘This will enable us to collectively strive to resuscitate all our countries’ economies in the post pandemic global recovery processes,’’ a statement by presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, quoted the president as saying.
Buhari also acknowledged the support of the respective countries in his Administration’s campaign to deal with the challenges of insecurity such as kidnapping, banditry, terrorism, drugs and human trafficking, as well as the threats posed by environmental challenges resulting from climate change in the Lake Chad Region.
He restated that different factors that accounted for these challenges go beyond the abilities of any single country to effectively contain.
He emphasised that matters of security have become the business of all nations of the world to work together at both bilateral and multilateral platforms and build consensus in order to overcome these challenges.
The ambassadors who presented their letters of credence are Nicolas Lang, Switzerland; Annika Hahn Englund, Sweden; Peter Ryan, Ireland; Kitiisak Klomchit, Thailand, Nicolas Nyouky, Senegal and David Chaot of South Sudan.
I Don’t Have A Single House Outside Nigeria – Buhari
Responding on behalf of his colleagues, the Ambassador of Switzerland assured the Nigerian President that they will exercise ‘‘their functions as Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary with dedication, to the best of their knowledge and belief, and for the mutual benefit of our countries.’’
Wishing Nigeria peaceful, free and fair elections, the Ambassadors extended their goodwill to the President on his remaining days in office.
‘‘We are keenly aware of the importance of Nigeria to the wellbeing of the entire African continent, its role in international politics and its weight in the world economy.
‘‘Each and every one of us is proud to represent his or her country and its interests in this great Federal Republic of Nigeria,’’ Lang said.
Obasanjo Warns Against Voting Nation Destroyers
Meanwhile, barely two weeks after his missive to Nigerian voters on New Year day, asking them to vote wiesly, former president of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, has again called on the citizens to take thoughtful consideration of each presidential candidate’s character, track record, physical and mental agility before voting them in office.
Obasanjo stated this yesterday while speaking via zoom at the Africa Leadership Group (Nigeria leadership Series), hosted by Ituah Ighodalo, with the theme, “Leadership and Nation Building.”
He urged Nigerians to go beyond talking and collectively vote for a president with good knowledge of the economy that would be able to quickly take the country out of its current situation.
The elder statesman said Nigeria is where it is today because of bad leadership, saying that the time to fix the country is now.
Obasanjo stated: “We are where we are because of leadership and I thought that is the purpose while you set this up and you want us to talk about it.
“I would like to say this, we must decisively go for men and women who have the character, the attitude, and the skills that we need for leadership that will deliver in this country.
“Recently, a pastor was talking and he said to the congregation “I know most of you must have made up your minds who you will vote for” and he said “those of you who have made up your minds who you will vote for, I don’t want to know who you will vote for but put up your hands,” almost the whole congregation, including himself put up their hands.
“I found it interesting and he said, ‘I want to make it clear and as I pray, put up your hands that your children may have a character, the attitude, the reputation, the life of the one you have chosen to vote for, then hands started coming down.’
“And I said to myself, so who here are people who are ready to vote for somebody they don’t want their children to be like. Now, what do you say of such people? Wicked as far as I’m concerned, unpatriotic, whether they do it deliberately for whatsoever reason, religion, money, for whatever they do that, they are nation destroyers and not nation builders and this has been our problem over the years.
“We don’t need to go far to look for why we are where we are and what we are seeing and what you are seeing and what I’m seeing is we need to ensure that, first we cultivate, we develop leaders for nation building.
“If the person you want to vote for or you have decided to vote for is not the person that you would want your child to be like, then change your mind.
“Every human being has an element of leadership ability and to me I think character, vision, track record, physical and mental agility as some people would put it”
On the monetisation of politics in Nigeria, he said the next president has to be someone who understands the economy so that he would be able to fix the Petroleum that has been stolen and be able to adopt strategies to tackle the out of school children in the country.
He added: “There are over 20 million Nigerian children that should be in school that are not in school. Those 20 million Nigerian children when they become adults will not be able to contribute maximally or even optimally to the nation, their state and the world.
“There is also a problem with political education. It doesn’t matter whether you are fully educated or you have a university degree or primary or secondary education. Political education is also very important.”
He lamented that despite the banditry that has affected every single sector of the economy, where people couldn’t travel freely across the country, some people are easily carried away by ethnicity.
“Then there is religion and I think these are some of the sad realities that do not help us and then money. I will put it in one world, corruption,” Obasanjo said.
Election Not By Tribe, Religion, Says Obi
Meanwhile, presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, yesterday declared that the 2023 presidential election will not be by tribe or religion.
Obimwho spoke in Enugu during the presidential rally of the Labour Party held at Okpara square warned that all the tribes are suffering and insisted that people should vote for him to end poverty in the country instead of tribe and religion.
The former Anambra State governor said Nigerians were tired of fake promises, noting that it was unfortunate that Nigeria, which has a population of about 200 million people, has more poor people than China and India.
“We can’t continue with millions of people living in poverty, we can’t continue with the level of stealing; it is your turn to take back your country,” he stated.
He promised to reform the police and make the force friendlier to the people, adding that they will recruit more people and ensure a better welfare package for the police in the country when in office.
The Labour Party presidential candidate promised that when elected president, he will put measures in place to make sure that Nigerians are proud of their country.
He assured that when elected president, he and his deputy will build a new Nigeria, adding that they would be wealth creators as they did before they occupied government positions.
Obi told the electorate that he decided to contest for the presidential position because he is the most qualified and not because he is an Igbo man, saying they can’t afford to fail Nigerians.
