News Editor
Following the series of coups d’état rocking the West African sub-region in the past two years, the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), has affirmed that such an occurrence cannot happen in Nigeria, saying the country has passed through that stage for good.
This is as he said he intends to leave a legacy for a united, peaceful, and prosperous Nigeria with 24 years of uninterrupted democracy.
Buhari spoke on Monday night at a dinner in honour of the 2022 Committee of Business, Political, Media and Civil Society Leaders, held at his residence at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, disclosed this in a statement he signed late Monday titled ‘Next administration will inherit a stable democracy, revamped security forces, President Buhari pledges.’
Responding to concerns by Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State on the resurgence of military takeovers in Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso in August 2020, September 2021 and January 2022, respectively, the President said he firmly believes that ‘‘Nigeria has passed through that stage for good.’’
He affirmed that he is looking forward to completing his tenure in 2023, leaving a strong repositioned agriculture-led, diversified home-grown economy, stable democracy and revamped armed and security forces to the next administration.
Assuring Nigerians that his regime will finish strong in the last lap of his tenure, Buhari said, “I am gradually entering my final year in office. It is a period I intend to spend not only on consolidating the achievements of the past seven years but also on leaving a legacy for a united, peaceful, and prosperous Nigeria.
I take this initiative to mean that you all intend to collaborate with this administration in that direction. For those among you who are politicians, you must look beyond gaining power to how you can leverage public positions in the process of societal change. To the businessmen and women among you, there is great glory in public service.”
Expressing delight on the new consciousness by the Nigerian elites to work together with the political class and civil society to build a better Nigeria, the President noted that building consensus around issues of the economy, national security, governance, and such other critical areas of national life is a sure path to the future Nigerians seek to build.
“As we all know, I have been very critical of the Nigerian elites, essentially because some of us have not always demonstrated that we can rise above personal gain, political partisanship as well as ethnic and religious differences when the situation demands that we all speak and or act as one in the interest of our country.
“There are also many among our elites for whom profit remains the only motivation for any and every enterprise. But now, I feel heartened that a more collaborative social enterprise model for resolving our common challenges is being forged,” he said.
The President lauded the group for rising above all ethnic and religious divides for the common good, describing the feat as ‘‘fantastic’’.
Punch
