President Buhari speaking during the event in Paris
While speaking during an interactive session with Nigerians living
in France, as he attends the Peace Forum in Paris, President Muhammadu
Buhari on Monday, gave conditions to be fulfilled before the government
can go into restructuring of the country.
The President who pointed out that there should be proper
definition of what Nigerians want before the government can delve into
restructuring the country, also noted that many Nigerians who have been
calling for restructuring have been doing so without defining what the
restructuring should be.
The Nigerian community, which was made up of Nigerian Diaspora
Organization (NIDO), All Progressives Congress (APC) members in France,
students and friends of Nigeria, asked the President questions ranging
from restructuring, security, anti-corruption, education and opportunity
for Nigerians in diaspora to vote in 2019 general elections.
The President said; “There are too many people talking lazily
about restructuring in Nigeria. Unfortunately, people are not asking
them individually what do they mean by restructuring? What form do they
want restructuring to take?
“Do they want us to have something like the three regions we
used to have? And now we have 36 states and the FCT. What form do they
want? They are just talking loosely about restructuring.
“Let them define it and then we see how we can peacefully do it
in the interest of Nigerians. They are just saying they want Nigeria
restructured and they don’t have the clue of what the form the
restructuring should be.
“So, anybody who talks to you about restructuring in Nigeria, ask him what he means and the form he wants it to take,” he stated.
President Buhari also gave reasons why Nigerians in diaspora might
not vote in the 2019 general elections, saying that it will be very
difficult for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to
put in place structures to accommodate them with just about three months
to the 2019 elections.
While noting that the increasing Nigeria population in the diaspora
supports the calls for their participation in electing Nigeria leaders,
Buhari said that it might not happen in the 2019 general elections as
INEC had been more focused on strengthening and consolidating on its
achievements to conduct credible elections within the country.
But he said that Nigerians in diaspora would definitely participate in future elections. “We
want to secure the Nigeria votes first before we go foreign. We are
going to strengthen the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)
to be more independent and viable so that they can recruit more
committed and educated Nigerians to be in charge and use technologies to
get the votes from all the constituencies.
“So, with the way the economy is now, I think with the
elections in three months’ time, it will be very difficult for INEC and
the government to organize quality survey of those that are outside,” he said.
Responding to the question on education in Nigeria, the President
said that his administration is doing its best to invest more in
infrastructures, education and other sectors. The Nigerian elites, he
said, disappointed Nigeria and the Nigerian masses under the sixteen
years administrations of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
According to him, so much waste has gone down the drain from the
huge resources earned in during the PDP administrations in the country
between 1999 and 2015, adding that there was nothing to show for the
earnings including the $16 billion said to have been spent on power.
He urged Nigerian elites, both at home and diaspora, to do more in
contributing to the educational sector of the country, expressing
surprise that the elites tolerated the fall in standards and structures
of educational institutions despite the huge oil earnings.
He said; “So, really I have seen it all and I was disappointed in the Nigerian elites. What have they done in these sixteen years?”
“What do we have with our oil production down to half a million
and the price per barrel went down to about $30, what could we have
done with the infrastructure?
“You should find out the damage done by the main opposition now
to the economy and the integrity of the country. So, we are now trying
to improve infrastructures and do more in education and other areas.
“We are currently reviewing investments in the entire
infrastructure of the country like road, rail and power, including
investing more in education. We will certainly need to do more in
education,’’ he said.
He added “I am doing my best now to utilize our resources to
develop the country. We are already getting results on road, rail and
power. My frustration is that some people still have plenty stolen money
stashed in Europe, U S and other countries.’’