Comptroller General of Nigeria Custom Service, Col. Hameed Ibrahim Ali
said yesterday that the Buhari government has not been able to move
forward and fulfill its campaign promises to the Nigerian people because
most of those calling the shuts in his government are those who never
believed in his vision.
Col. Ali’s position was supported by Plateau state governor, Simon Lalong
who spoke the mind of governors saying the governors are not happy that
they are left out of appointments being made by the government, saying
such appointments are made without consulting with the governors.
Speaking at the commissioning of the office complex of the Buhari Support
Organisation in (BSO) in Abuja, Col Ali who is also the National
Coordinator of the Organisation said that more than fifty percent of
positions in the Buhari government were handled over to members of the PDP
who fought against the actualisation of a Buhari Presidency.
While lamenting the fate of members of the organizations who he said made
serious sacrifices to ensure that Buhari became President, the Customs
Boss said when the chips are down, those who were not part of the Buhari
vision and are currently in government will abandon the ship, while
members of the Organisation who sought the votes of Nigerians will be call
to account for the failure of the government.
He said: “We must agree that we cannot finish our four years without
delivering and leaving something to be remembered for in this country for
a long time to come. We have no problem with our President because he is
on course.
“But I must confess here that we have been infused by people who were not
part of this journey and these people are the ones that calls the shut
today.
That is why we are derailing. If we had the right people who had the
vision and have been there in and out, I believe that we will not be going
the way we are going today.
“It is my belief that those of us who have been in the trenches all these
years to get good governance will surely be sleeping with belly ache
everyday, especially in the recent past. Everyday, when you wake up, there
is a story that makes you shiver.
“We cannot, as a people who have fought and committed everything we had to
bring this government to being sit back and allow things to happen the way
they are happening. At the end of the day, the fingers will point at us
because we were the ones who went to people and spools them to give us
their votes.
“These people that are calling the shuts today were not there and when the
chips are down, they will disappear and melt within the system. We are the
ones that will be asked to account for what happened.
“Are we willing to face Nigerians and tell them that we have failed? I
think this is the time for us to come together, create a system that is
very robust enough to fight back and take back government in our hands and
ensure that we deliver.
“We believe that if you want to change the system, it will happen. Let me
say that in the course of the jihad of the Prophet Mohammad, anytime they
go out for a battle, they come back with loot, but these loot, as far as
my own research told me is not distribute to everybody, but to those who
took the sword and faced the enemies.
“Today, with all sense of responsibility, I want to say that we have 50
percent of PDP in our government. How can we move forward with this load?
How can we achieve our target with this load? It is a spoilt system and
so. When you come in, you shake off everybody and bring in your own. That
is what democracy is all about.
“Today, we have members of PDP calling the shuts. That is what we will
begin to fight for, we will fight for our right position, our vision and
our mission for this government. I am sorry to deviate into politics, but
it is very essential because we are a political Organisation. It is time
for us to wake up from slumber and chat a course for this great nation and
I believe that we can do it. May God help u and see us through.”
“I will therefore ask my colleagues of the BSO to go back to the study
room. This is a Commission, but it is also the beginning of the fight for
good governance. We must get back to the trenches, draw our own battle
plan and battle line. I enjoined you that the same commitment we had in
2015, I employ you to bear with us and commit yourself to a better future
for Nigeria.
“We will be calling on you from now on and we will be working day and
night. We must do so because we want to save our name at the end of the
day and the name of the President for what he is doing. Our President is
on course and all we need is to ensure that we support him. What do we do?
For those of us who believe in God, we must know that God is the first
point of call.”
While commending members of the Organisation for keeping hope alive, he
said: “this is a gathering to rekindle what we started in 2015 and what we
used as a vehicle to fight in the trenches, out of the torches, along the
routes and in so many difficult terrains to see to the success of our
vision and mission. Our vision then was to install a government that will
bring about change in this country. Our motto and expression then was that
we want change.
“I want to commend Nigerians for sharing that same Vision with us. They
decided to vote the government out and voted us in because of that vision
of change. We are riding on that mantle of change today.
“It is good to take us back on the memory lane. Some of us started this
journey in 2011. There are those who started as far back as 2003 and are
still in the tranches. I am sure that the 2007 veterans are still here,
while some of us joined the train in 2011, while many others joined in
2015.
“Why did we then sacrifice everything that we need and want? A lot of us
have lost their jobs, others have lost their businesses. A lot of us
sitting here today have nothing to do because they committed their time
and resource working for the success of a change for a better Nigeria.
“We did this not because of ourselves or any individual but because of our
love for this great nation. Many of you can remember that we went through
this because we are committed to a course and that whatever we eventually
install will be something that we are committed to.
“But let me say here without fear of being contradicted that I think half
way through the journey, we are losing our core values. We are losing our
vision and mission and I think that the idea of our being here today is to
look critically at what we need to do to get back on track.
“There is no doubt that we have derailed because we are not doing what we
say we want to do. Why is it so? We need to find an answer to that. If we
do find an answer, then what should we do to get us all back on track. We
owe this great nation and the 180 million Nigerians the duty to give good
governance. Good governance is what they voted for and good governance is
what they expect to get and they serve that.
“We therefore, as BSO, have a great task ahead of us. My dear comrades,
the battle and the job starts now. We have won one battle by taking over
power. But what we make of this power is very essential to us and to
humanity.
“Therefore, I want to take this opportunity to tell my colleagues here
that we have to change the narratives. When we were our there Working and
jumping on the street and reaching every corner, we were shouting change,
change for a better Nigeria. Now, the key word is good governance for
Nigerians.”
Also speaking, Plateau state governor, Simon Lalong who shared the
sentiments of the Custom Boss also lamented that appointments into
government positions are made without recourse to the governors, adding
that those who do not have the capacity to defend the actions of the
President have been the ones benefiting from federal government to
appointments.
The governor said the government must be made aware that things are not
working the way they should, saying “If things are wrong they are wrong,
if they are right they are right. But it requires very courageous people
to come out and say these thongs are wrong or they are right.
“Let the Mr. President be aware that this is the time to do it because
even as governors we are also complaining in our various state, we are
saying it. We complained in our states that we sit down and we hear
appointment made and then people start asking you as the governor where is
this man coming from?
“But when we turn right and turn left, we don’t know where such a person
is coming from. Many people have complained. I’m sure governors have
complained that we should be able to know who and who will Protect Mr.
President and his administration.
“When I heard that BSO is coming back again, I said is it not too late
because if you allow people to grumble too much, you will see fight in
several states and some of them are for a just course.
Somebody suffered for the party, the person is not rewarded and you wake
up to see another man who even fought you, the man who made you to lose
your job is now being appointed and the one who suffered is sitting down.
Sometimes he will be looking for tears to cry and the tears will not be
there because they are dry.
“Like our chairman said to me, it is not too late. This is the time to
start because this is the time you will hear a lot of things coming.
People who have not serve will come back and say I had serve this way, I
had serve that way but the records are there. The records can not tell
lie. If it is true that they served this way, they served that way let the
record.”