President Muhammadu Buhari has explained why he declared his intentions to
\nrun for another term in office on Monday, April 9, 2018, during the
\nNational Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the All Progressives
\nCongress (APC).<\/p>\n
Receiving the Archbishop of Canterbury, His Grace Justin Welby in London
\nWednesday, President Buhari said:<\/p>\n
“I declared before leaving home because Nigerians were talking too much
\nabout whether I would run or not. So, I felt I should break the ice. We
\nhave many things to focus on, like security, agriculture, economy,
\nanti-corruption, and many others. We needed to concentrate on them, and
\npolitics should not be a distraction. The majority of Nigerians appreciate
\nwhat we are doing, and that is why I am re-contesting.”<\/p>\n
The President recounted some successes of the administration to his guest,
\nwith whom he has built a deep friendship in recent times, and was quite
\nparticular about strides in agriculture.<\/p>\n
“We have cut the importation of rice by about 90%, saving billions of
\ndollars in the process. People who rushed into petrol money have now gone
\nback to agriculture. Even professionals have gone back to the land.
\nNigeria should be able to feed itself comfortably soon. I am so pleased,”
\nthe President said.<\/p>\n
On the war against insurgency, he stressed the need for continuous
\neducation of the people, “so that they can be free from religious
\nmanipulation,” adding that no true religion advocates the hurting or
\nkilling of the innocent.<\/p>\n
Responding to his guest’s comment on the clashes between herdsmen and
\nfarmers in different parts of Nigeria, the President submitted:<\/p>\n
“The problem is even older than us. It has always been there, but now made
\nworse by the influx of armed gunmen from the Sahel region into different
\nparts of the West African sub-region. These gunmen were trained and armed
\nby Muammar Gadaffi of Libya. When he was killed, the gunmen escaped with
\ntheir arms. We encountered some of them fighting with Boko Haram. Herdsmen
\nthat we used to know carried only sticks and maybe a cutlass to clear the
\nway, but these ones now carry sophisticated weapons. The problem is not
\nreligious, but sociological and economic. But we are working on
\nsolutions.”
\nPresident Buhari lamented that “irresponsible politics” has been brought
\ninto the farmers\/herders\u2019 crisis, but assured that enduring solutions
\nwould be found, and justice done to all concerned.<\/p>\n
On Leah Sharibu, the schoolgirl from Dapchi still being held by
\ninsurgents, reportedly because she refused to renounce her Christian
\nfaith, the President said:<\/p>\n
“We are managing the matter quietly. Making noise would not help. We are
\ncollecting as much intelligence as possible, working with the Red Cross
\nand other international organizations. There are too many fraudulent
\npeople around, who claim they can do this and that. We won’t deal with
\nthem. That was how we got the Dapchi girls back, and the Chibok girls.”<\/p>\n
Archbishop Welby said it was always a delight to see President Buhari,
\n“whom I have tremendous respect for,” adding: “You have my best wishes on
\nyour recent decision. I read your declaration speech. We are neutral as a
\nchurch, but we will pray for you. Great statesmen are those who run for
\nthe good of their country. We will be praying for you.”<\/p>\n
The Archbishop presented President Buhari with a copy of his recent book,
\n‘Reimagining Britain. Foundations for Hope.’<\/p>\n
President Muhammadu Buhari has explained why he declared his intentions to run for another term in office on Monday, April 9, 2018, during the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":61641,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-61640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n