By JONATHAN NDA- ISAIAH, Abuja
President Muhammadu Buhari has called on Nigerians especially the elite to be fair in their criticism of his administration.
Speaking yesterday in Abuja when he received in audience Reverend
Yakubu Pam, the Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Christian Pilgrims
Commission, President Buhari in a statement by his media aide, Femi
Adesina said: “Those criticising the administration should be fair in terms of
reflecting on where we were before we came, where we are now and what
resources are available to us and what we have done with the limited
resources.
“We had to struggle paying debts, investing in road repairs and
rebuilding, to revamp the rail and try to get power. This is what I hope the elite, when they want to criticise will use to compare notes.”
On the security situation especially in the Northeast, the President remarked: “What was the situation when we came? Try and ask people from Borno or from Adamawa for that matter and Yobe. What was the condition before we came and what is the condition now? Still, there
are problems in Borno and Yobe, there are occasional Boko Haram problems, but they know the difference because a lot of them moved out of their states and moved to Kaduna, Kano and here (in Abuja). We were not spared of the attacks at a time. The government is doing its best and I hope that eventually, our best will be good enough.”
President Buhari also assured that the welfare of Internally Displaced
Persons (IDPs) was paramount on the agenda of government.
“The people in IDPs camps, the weak, aged, I feel sorry for the young
because this is the time they are supposed to get education. We must
not allow this time to pass because it will never be regained. So we are really interested in what is happening there and we are doing our best,” the President said.
He commended the Executive Secretary on his appointment and activities
on peace building around the country despite his short time in the
saddle and assured him of the listening ear of the government whenever
he had contributions to make.
Earlier in his remarks, Reverend Pam had intimated the President with some of the activities of the Commission since he was appointed in July 2020. These include; organisation of Peace Summit on Southern Kaduna as well as peace building efforts in Plateau, Benue, Taraba and Nasarawa states. He added that the Commission has proposed to host Christian religious leaders in a summit to help douse pressures within the polity, among other plans.
