Ali Alkali, George Agba and Samuel Aruwan
Former Head of State and Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) presidential
aspirant, General Muhammadu Buhari yesterday said the government and political
leaders in this country should come together and work, to "ensure that
terrorists do not set the national agenda."
In a condolence message to all Nigerians and the families of the October 1st
bomb blasts victims at Eagle Square, Abuja, personally signed by the general, he
said: "This national tragedy should pull us a nation and a people to grief
together and ensure that terrorists do not set the national agenda."
While blaming the security forces for failure to prevent the incident despite
the intelligence at hand, Buhari said it was wrong for Jonathan to jump to hasty
conclusion. "It is wrong to jump to hasty conclusion as Jonathan did, because of
his inexperience. What is required now is space for the security agencies to
undertake a thorough investigation professionally and in the public interest and
publish their full report before Nigerians. And they should take full measures
to avert a recurrence of these tragic atrocities.
Condoling the families of the victims and President Goodluck Jonathan, "as
this has happened under his watch," Gen. Buhari urged the president to pay full
compensation to the victims, saying, "Full compensation should be paid to
families of those killed and to those injured as well as to those whose property
was destroyed."
Buhari had also, yesterday, argued that the Nigerian military are not
wholesomely corrupt and responsible for Nigeria's backwardness as it is being
presented.
In an interview with the BBC Hausa Service, monitored in Kaduna, Buhari said,
"It is not true that the military is wholesomely responsible for Nigeria's
backwardness. Nigerians know everything. For example, when I was petroleum
minister there was allegation that about 2.8 billion naira was stolen. Later, it
was realized that the allegation was false and baseless, because those who made
the allegation could not prove it, and it was nothing but lies to cause
confusion".
Reacting to insinuations that ex-military men were only jostling to occupy
public offices for their selfish reasons and corrupt tendencies, Buhari replied:
"It is not so, that some of us are staging a comeback for personal reasons. If
you say so to me; you are wrong. The issue is, leadership had been made to be a
child's play in Nigeria; which ought not to be so.
"All Nigerians are suffering; and if one takes a look at the money this
country made since we returned to democracy 12 years ago, and the excruciating
situation we are in now, the fact remains that there is injustice and wastage of
resources to the detriment of all Nigerians. There is no sound security; there
is no reliable electricity sector - and that is responsible for the closure of
our industries and loss of employment. If we are progressing all these would not
have happened.
"All I am saying is, our people will not have been subjected to this bad
situation when we have resources to address these abnormalities. Contract worth
five million naira will be inflated for 20 million, and the contractor knows it
is cheating and stealing, but he will go away with the money, simply because he
knows he cannot be prosecuted".
Distinguishing between leadership under civilians and politicians with
military background, Buhari added "Leadership, whether military or civilian,
depends on the kind of the people at the apex of the system. If the leaders at
the top are corrupt, everybody down the ladder will be corrupt. If they are
morally right and transparent, followers have no choice than to follow suit.
This issue has nothing to do with the type of government."
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