We have done our best given resources at our disposal — Buhari

By Salim Yunusa

President Muhammadu Bu­hari Thursday in Daura, Kat­sina State, said his adminis­tration has done its best given the available resources at its disposal.

While attributing the im­pact of his administration to God, he said the government would have been in trouble if the situation was different.

“We have done our best and thank God for what we have been able to achieve with the available resources, otherwise we would have been in trou­ble,” he stated.

According to the president, oil prices fell from more than $100 to less than $38 under his administration, and the output that was 2.1 million barrels a day dropped to about 500,000 barrels, yet a lot was achieved.

The president, however, im­plored historians and intellec­tuals to be factual in keeping the records of the adminis­tration, especially in guiding the electorate to make right choices of leadership for the country.

The president, who re­ceived some governors of the All Progressives Con­gress (APC) at his country home, said the future of the country would be shaped by the diligence and honesty of those who document history and provide analysis of situ­ations, knowing the value of what obtained in the past, and afterwards.

President Buhari said it would be unfortunate to mis­lead the electorate with lies, and personal bias, reiterating the need to put the larger in­terest of the country beyond other colorations.

“For the time remaining, and for those who have one more term in office based on the provision of the constitu­tion, the elections are import­ant to the parties. Intellectu­als and historians should be fair to us so that those who are looking for leadership positions will not exploit the political ignorance or lack of knowledge of the people,” he said.

The president told the gov­ernors to remain steadfast on delivering their promises to the people.

The president also noted that the security situation had improved compared to the instability in the North-East before 2015, and the South- South, where some parts of the North were directly under the control of terrorists, while the South was facing serious challenges.

“The subsequent develop­ment in the North-West is the most amazing, where people who lived together, spoke same language and shared common faith started killing each other and rustling cows.

“I had to change the secu­rity chiefs and we had to get down to the fundamentals of providing security. If you look at the situation in relation to time and resources, you will find out what we have been able to achieve,” the president noted.

In his remarks, the gover­nor of Kebbi State and Chair­man of Progressive Gover­nors’ Forum, Atiku Abubakar Bagudu, thanked the president for providing vision and strong leadership for the APC, noting that the efforts to mainstream agriculture as mainstay of the economy was yielding results.

“I drove from Kebbi State to Daura, and stopped to pick the governor of Zamfara State, Bello Matawalle, and realised that for the eight hours of com­ing here, we didn’t see more than 10km of land that was not cultivated.

“It goes to show that the efforts to improve security is also paying off. Farmers are taking advantage and plant­ing. In six weeks, Your Excel­lency, you have commissioned projects in Lagos, Kano, Katsi­na and Borno states, and also launched some projects virtu­ally.

“We appreciate the proj­ects the Federal Government is doing in every state of the country and supporting gover­nors, even those that are not so progressive,” he said.

Bagudu said three gover­nors, Prof. Ben Ayade of Cross River, David Umahi of Ebonyi and Bello Matawalle of Zam­fara left their former parties to join the APC because of the fa­therliness, equitable character and focus of the president on bottom-up development.

“We are proud to have you as our leader. Your achieve­ments and ideals are inculcat­ed in all of us,” he noted.

The governors at the meet­ing with the president also in­clude Prof. Ben Ayade of Cross River, David Umahi of Ebonyi, Bello Matawalle of Zamfara, John Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti, who is chairman of the Nige­ria Governors’ Forum, Aminu Bello Masari of Katsina, Sol­omon Lalong of Plateau and Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano.

Babajide Sanwo-Olu of La­gos, Abubakar Sani Bello of Niger, Adegboyega Oyetola of Osun and Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State were also part of the homage to Presi­dent Buhari’s country home.