The President spoke with Nigerians resident in
South Africa on Monday after taking part in the
25th assembly of Heads of State and
Government of the African Union in
Johannesburg.
He said, "I wish I became Head of State when I
was a governor, just a few years as a young
man. Now at 72, there is a limit to what I can
do."
Despite his advancement in age however, Buhari
gave assurance that his administration would
make a difference.
Buhari explained that what brought him to his
current position was his love for the country.
He recalled that he was in the war front for 30
months during the civil war, adding that like any
other Nigerian, he lost relatives and loyal people
to the war.
Buhari said considering the fact that two
million Nigerians died during the war, nobody
should come forward to talk about a breakup of
the country.
He stressed that Nigeria would remain one
country since God had given him another
opportunity to reorganise its affairs.
The President promised that his administration
would "kill" corruption before it wrecks the
nation.
He added that the All Progressives Congress
government which he leads was determined to
secure the country and improve its economy.
"Our government is determined to secure the
country, manage the economy, create
employment and fight corruption. Some
articulate writers have said if we do not kill
corruption, corruption will kill Nigeria. This APC
administration intends to kill corruption in
Nigeria. We will do our best, I assure you,"
Buhari stated.
The President said he was at a time afraid that
Nigeria might become a nation like Somalia
which "self-centered elite" had succeeded in
turning to a war zone in the last 20 years.
He said Nigerians were more vulnerable because
the country has many nationalities who were
merged in 1914 in spite of their religious and
cultural differences.
Buhari stated that only crazy people whom,
according to him, are not in short supply, would
talk of dividing the country.
He said there was no big deal in the claims by
those who accused him of jailing them because
he was also jailed for over three years.
"After being in the military for 25 years, and
getting to the highest rank and becoming Head
of State and under unusual circumstances, as
Head of State, I went straight to detention for
three-and-a-half years. So, those who accuse
me of locking them up, I too have been locked
up; so what?" he declared.
The President said he would not have believed
if he had been told during his days in the military
that he would one day join partisan politics.
He explained that he joined partisan politics with
a view to meeting the needs of the people.
Buhari said, "Why did I join partisan politics in
spite of that? When I went home people knew
that I have no money and I thought they will
leave me alone, but they didn't.
"They were coming to me asking me to do this
and do that. I found out that the only way I
could do it is by joining partisan politics.
"And maybe if I speak even if I'm not a member
at any level, people will listen to me.
"But then I joined the opposition (the All Peoples
Party). I didn't want any political office at first, if
I wanted, I would have joined the PDP(Peoples
Democratic Party) then and maybe I would have
got to where I am much earlier. But then, I
wanted to go with the opposition.
"The second thing that finally convinced me to
join partisan politics was what happened in the
Soviet Union. You know the Soviet Union was an
empire in the 20th century that collapsed without
a shot being fired.
"Everybody went home, there was confusion.
Now, there are 18 countries out of the old Soviet
Union."
Buhari said he believed that the best form of
governance was democracy, but elections must
be free and fair.
That, he said, was why he was in trouble and he
had to move from the APP to the ANPP(All
Nigerian Peoples Party) to CPC(Congress for
Progressive Change) and eventually to the APC.
Buhari explained that he contested his defeats
in 2003, 2007 and 2011 up to the Supreme Court
because of his belief that elections must be free
and fair.
He said, "In all those cases from the High Court
to the Supreme Court, we sent people to the
field, they found out why the elections were not
fair.
"They came to the court and gave evidence but
in the end, they will say 'oh well, there were
some flaws in the elections but the PDP has
won.
"But at last, the PDP has lost.''
While explaining that he had occupied different
positions like military governor of the North
Eastern State, Minister of Petroleum Resources,
Head of State and Chairman of the defunct
Petroleum Trust Fund, he stated people only
remember his days at the PTF because he
equipped hospitals and schools.
The President said, "I bought bed sheets and X-
ray machines for hospital and buses for the
schools.
"They (Nigerians) remember me more as
chairman of the PTF than as a former Head of
State, than a governor or a Minister of
Petroleum.
"In spite of the fact that it was during my time
that I signed the contract for the Warri Refinery,
Kaduna Refinery, more than 3,500 pipelines and
more than 20 depots.
"We got the tankers off the roads; we saved
lives; we saved fuel and we saved the roads.
"But from 1999 till date, the PDP messed them
up. That is why Nigerians decided to vote me."
Buhari said despite the money politics being
played in Nigeria, his victories during APC's
primary and the March 28 presidential elections
had proved that Nigerians knew what they
wanted .
He said some rejected inducement while some
collected and still did exactly what they wanted
to do when there was time to vote.
Buhari regretted that some "strong Nigerians"
were responsible for the destruction of strong
institutions in the country.
He said, "We have a system in Nigeria. No
matter what you say about the British
colonialists, they built institutions for us,
unfortunately we have destroyed those
institutions.
"When (Barack) Obama came to Africa, he went
to Ghana; he refused to come to Nigeria. And he
said Africa or developing countries should have
strong institutions instead of strong leaders.
"If he was in Nigeria, he would have known that
it was strong Nigerians that destroyed the strong
institutions. And paradoxically, maybe another
strong Nigerian will come and revive the
institutions and make them strong again."
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