free and fair elections, he is not afraid of a credible process in 2019.
To this effect, the President reaffirmed his commitment to making sure
that the 2019 polls, under his watch, will be free, fair and credible.
Speaking at an interactive session with members of the Nigerian community
in China, the President pledged that Nigerians eligible to vote in the
next general elections will be allowed to freely elect candidates of their
choice.
‘‘I have no fear about free and fair elections because that is what
brought me to the present position. I know what I went through and very
few Nigerians could boast of trying four times [contesting for the
presidency].
‘‘Those interested in participating in the elections must get their PVCs,
register in their constituency and elect anybody of their choice across
ethnicity and religion.
‘‘The Nigerian police, law enforcement agencies and INEC must respect the
people to express their wishes,’’ he said.
Citing recent elections in Bauchi, Katsina and Kogi States, the President
said the country had made progress relative to elections conducted in the
past years.
On security issues, the President reaffirmed that his government has
succeeded in curtailing Boko Haram insurgents in the country, adding that
the terrorist group no longer controls any part of the country.
He attributed the success to operations of security agencies deployed to
counter insurgency in the North-eastern part of the country.
‘‘You will all recall that we contested the last election basically on
three issues, which includes security, especially in the North East.
‘‘The Boko Haram used to occupy quite a number of local governments in
Borno State but they are not in anyone now. They have resorted to a very
dangerous way of terrorism by indoctrinating young people, mostly girls
and attacking soft targets, churches, mosques and marketplaces,’’ he said.
On herders and farmers clashes in Nigeria, the President told Nigerians in
the Diaspora that while security agencies are doing their best to curtail
the clashes, the Nigerian media need to complement the efforts through
objective and informed reportage.
The President appealed to the Nigerian media to make an attempt at
understanding the cultural and historical implications of some of the
misunderstanding between herders and farmers.
In the words of the President: ‘‘To my disappointment there are a number
of things which the members of the press in Nigeria do not make enough
efforts, in my observation, to study the historical antecedents of issues
that are creating national problems for us.’’
According to the President, due to the effects of climate change, a farm
that used to belong to 5 people now belong to 50 people, the weather
condition, particularly the rainy season is now unpredictable.
The President partly blamed the farmer’s herders’ controversy on the
shrinking of the Lake Chad, which has forced many cattle nomads to seek
greener pastures for their herds in other parts of the country.
On Nigeria-China relations, the President applauded China’s generosity and
contribution to the development of Nigeria, citing the successful
completion of the Abuja-Kaduna railway line, built by the Chinese, and
ongoing works on Lagos, Ibadan, Ilorin, Abuja, Kano railway routes.
He said Nigeria and China are also negotiating on the Mambilla project.
President Buhari advised Nigerians planning to travel abroad for ‘‘greener
pastures’’ to do so legitimately and not to expect too much from their
countries of destination.
‘‘You cannot seek greener pastures in a place where you are not respected
because of the colour of your skin or your lack of education or other
things. Personally, I think you will earn more respect when you remain at
home and get a job,’’ he said
On Nigeria-China relations, the President applauded China’s generosity and
contribution to the development of Nigeria, citing the successful
completion of the Abuja-Kaduna railway line, built by the Chinese, and
ongoing works on Lagos, Ibadan, Ilorin, Abuja, Kano railway routes.
He said Nigeria and China are also negotiating on the Mambilla project.
President Buhari advised Nigerians planning to travel abroad for ‘‘greener
pastures’’ to do so legitimately and not to expect too much from their
countries of destination.
‘‘You cannot seek greener pastures in a place where you are not respected
because of the colour of your skin or your lack of education or other
things. Personally, I think you will earn more respect when you remain at
home and get a job,’’ he said.
Acknowledging the material and intellectual support of Nigerians in the
Diaspora to the development of Nigeria, the President assured that his
administration will remain focused and committed to providing the needed
infrastructure and doing the needful for Nigeria’s prosperity.
Earlier in his remarks, the Nigerian Ambassador to China, Baba Ahmed-Jidda
thanked the President for his support to the Embassy, which led to the
completion of the Ambassador’s residence.
The Ambassador praised Nigerians resident in the various province of China
for being law abiding with the exception of few.
On consular matters, the envoy told the President Nigerians still faced
difficulties in the process of obtaining Chinese visas – an issue he
thinks the President should take up with the Chinese authority.
Also speaking, the President of the China Chapter of Nigerians in the
Diaspora Organisation, Brian Akiti, while wishing the country successful
elections in 2019 pledged the support of the organisation to the present
administration’s development agenda.
In a separate event, the President also met with Nigerian students on
scholarship in China.
He told the students: “I hope you will make the best use of this
opportunity given to you. Nigeria is grateful to China for extending this
generosity to us.
‘‘The Chinese are helping Nigeria greatly with building infrastructure, it
is very much appreciated. We are pleased with the training they providing
for our Nigerian Students.”
President Muhammadu Buhari also met with the executives of China Civil
Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), during which he lauded the
construction group for their immense contributions to infrastructure
development in Nigeria.