PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has said he would retire to his house in Daura, Katsina State, instead of his better house in Kaduna, adding that as he is nearing the end of his term as president, he is eager to go.
He disclosed this to governors and political leaders who paid Sallah homage to him on Monday, lamenting that he had not been to his house in Daura for close to a year due to the demands of office.
“The observation that I abandoned my base was made by the Emir of Daura, Dr Faruk Umar Faruk, at the eid prayer ground.
“He held the microphone and told everyone that the last time I was in Daura was during the Eid-el-Kabir of 2021,” he added.
President Buhari said he would retire to Daura, adding that “In 10 to 11 months time, I will come here. I have a better house in Kaduna, but it is too close to Abuja.”
The president explained that the schedule of work was much, saying he recently had to sympathise with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyema, who had to be away most of the time from his family.
“I am eager to go. I can tell you it has been tough. I am grateful to God that people appreciate the personal sacrifices we have been making,” he added. President Buhari urged the All Progressives Congress (APC) stalwarts to keep working for the good of the people and the country, noting that: “We are a lucky people and we need to reflect more on where we are coming from.”
The president said relative to the resources available and compared to the last administration, the government had done well in many areas, particularly in infrastructure and wished the person coming after him in office the very best.
On security, the president said the North-West had posed more challenges, while some success had been recorded in other regions of North-East and South-South.
He, however, advised some indigenes in the South-South to stop hurting national assets, which he said also affect their livelihood.
The president appealed to members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to reconsider their position on the prolonged strike, with a view to calling it off.
He expressed worry that the protracted disruption in varsities’ academic calendar will have generational consequences on families, the educational system and future development of the country.
He said the strike had already taken a toll on the psychology of parents, students and other stakeholders, throwing up many moral issues that already beg for attention.
President Buhari noted that the future of the country rests on the quality of educational institutions and education, while assuring that the government understands their position and negotiations should continue, with students in lecture halls.
“We hope that ASUU will sympathise with the people on the prolonged strike. Truly, enough is enough for keeping students at home. Don’t hurt the next generation for goodness’s sake,” a statement issued by Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the President (Media and Publicity), quoted him as saying.
The president said students from Nigerian universities will face challenge of competing with others in a highly connected and technology-driven work space, adding that keeping them at home only deprives them of time, skills and opportunities to be relevant on the global stage.
President Buhari said resources should be channeled more into building infrastructure and operations of the health and educational sector, not to expand the bureaucracy to create job opportunities.
In his remarks at the meeting, chairman of Progressive Governors’ Forum, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, thanked the president for his leadership roles in improving the economy and the many successes recorded by the APC, which include two conventions to produce the party leadership and the presidential candidate, Senator Bola Tinubu.
“We will work hard to ensure the success of our party. We have reasons to work very hard,” he added.
Bagudu, who is also the governor of Kebbi State, said the favourable seasons supported the vision of ensuring food production and making agriculture a priority, with clear results in rice pyramids in various states.
“In spite of the attacks by the renegades, our country remains self-sufficient in food production. We have seen investments that were not there before you came into power.
“Not less than 20 states now have agriculture process zones. We have rice pyramid in Ekiti, Gombe and Niger, while maize pyramids were revived in Katsina and Kano states,” he said.
He said more than 54 rice mills were inaugurated in various states and 57 fertiliser plants were revived, or built afresh.
“All these were achieved because of your commitment and patriotism,” the governor told the president.
Bagudu also appreciated the president for providing ease of access to governors and political leaders, noting that the opening of the National Economic Council for more fluid exchange of ideas greatly helped in improving the economy.
APC governors at the lunch with the president were Aminu Masari (Katsina), Nasir el-Rufai (Kaduna), Hope Uzodinma (Imo), Abdullahi Sule (Nasarawa), Abubakar Sani Bello (Niger), Abdullahi Umar Ganduje (Kano), Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), Simon Lalong (Plateau) and Bagudu (Kebbi).