'Buhari deserves respect not denigration' - Nigerian governor

The Governor of Kwara State, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, has said that the President of Nigeria, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), deserves respect and not denigration.

The governor who spoke yesterday also cautioned against the disparaging of the President for no just cause.

AbdulRazaq said this in Ilorin, the Kwara state capital, at the distribution of Ramadan gift, tagged ‘Baba for all’ to the vulnerable, physically challenged, widows and less privileged across the 16 local government areas of the state.

He said, “Most of the All Progressives Congress (APC) governors rode on Buhari’s back to power. Even though we had our own ‘otoge’ in Kwara but he led the party amiably.

“So we are not going to sit and have people needlessly denigrate the leader of the country for no just reason. The man has been working."

“He has done exceedingly well and because he would not talk, the opposition is taking advantage of that to pull him and the country down. No, no patriot should allow that."

“When there was a lot of money in this country, it was mismanaged. But when baba came in, the money has dwindled. There is no money today but President Buhari has been able to manage that and he has been an effective manager of resources. What he has been doing is to manage the situation."

“The effect of COVID-19 has hit hard on global economy, not just Nigeria. It hit Nigeria very hard as the vast majority of us earn our wages daily. So the shutdown affected us more.

“No matter what they say about Baba Buhari, nobody has accused him of embezzling money. That is where it starts from. The man is prudent and diligent. He is making sure that things are done right in every sector.”

The governor added that “in the area of security we have our challenges. But when baba came in, only Maiduguri was in the hands of the government of Nigeria, all the other local government areas of Borno state were practically in the hands of non state actors. But today things have changed."

“Before baba came on board, bombings were going on in Kaduna, Kano and even Abuja. United Nations office was bombed. We always seem to forget that and latch on to the momentum of now, which is quite sad."

“Security begins with all of us and we have our roles to play. That is why the Federal Government has introduced community policing.”

On infrastructure, AbdulRazaq said that “before President Muhammadu Buhari took over the reins of power in 2015, you could hardly travel between Lagos and Ibadan because of the total collapse of infrastructure in the country."

“We also had challenges going to Abuja either through Mokowa or Kabba. The railway system was comatose. But since President Buhari came in, most of these challenges in the area of infrastructure are being tackled."

“In fact, the greatest challenge we have now on the Ilorin-Mokowa is the high rate of accidents because that road is arguably the best road in Nigeria today, making some motorists to drive recklessly on the road.”