11th
July, 2015
PRESS RELEASE:
REJECTION
OF N400 MILLION ARMOURED CAR:
BUHARI
IS LEADING BY EXAMPLE
President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday turned down an offer by the Federal
Government to procure five new armoured Mercedes Benz S-600 (V222) cars for his
use. The total cost of the cars is about N400 million.
They were planned for purchase by the State House management but the
president told them that the purchase was unnecessary. Describing the proposal
as a waste of scarce resources, Buhari said the cars he inherited from former
President Goodluck Jonathan were good enough for him.
The
Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) applauds this inspiring and altruistic gesture.
It shows that Mr. President is walking his talk. It will be recalled that
Buhari had promised fiscal prudence during the campaigns.
Cementing his principled stand on cutting costs, the president and his
vice, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo were also widely reported today to have slashed their
salaries by half.
As
if these two heart-warming news are not enough, Nigeria’s foreign reserves have
risen from $29.1 billion left by the immediate past government to $31.89
billion. This came about as a result of Buhari’s tight fiscal policy anchored
on blocking of leakages.
The most surprising thing here is that the increase occurred within just
five weeks of Buhari’s new administration. Cynics who are still in doubt about
Buhari’s achievements since assuming office need to check their records.
Even the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, has
attributed the sharp rise in Nigeria’s foreign reserves to “the strong efforts
of President Muhammadu Buhari, to block all leakages”.
Add to these three positive developments the revitalization of the country’s
refineries which the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation has reliably
informed Nigerians that they would all start refining petroleum at full
capacity from this month of July.
Yet there is more. Already, there are reports that some of those who
siphoned the people’s money into their private pockets have started refunding
it.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has suddenly woken up
from its deep slumber. There is a flurry of activities from the economic
watchdog in the past five weeks. Old files are being dusted and at least one
immediate past governor has just been sent to jail. These would have been
unimaginable barely two months ago.
MURIC can therefore conclude that the Buhari ‘wonder’ is here with us
again. As the retired general worked tirelessly for Nigeria when he was
military head of state, Buhari appears not to have lost any steam or iota of
passion in his drive for idealistic leadership.
We
have always said leadership is Nigeria’s problem. From the late Tai Solarin and
Gani Fawehinmi to living legends like Femi Falana, all past and present social
crusaders have chorused this truism.
The dream of these great men is about to come true with the emergence of
Muhammadu Buhari in Aso Rock. It now appears that Nigeria has crossed the leadership
hurdle.
Yet for this silent revolution to succeed, Nigerians should take the cue.
From governors to commissioners, permanent secretaries, chairmen of para-statals,
heads of research centers, tertiary institutions, contract awarding bodies,
etc., the change mantra must be felt and embraced.
With the huge human and material resources at our disposal, Nigerians have
no business being jobless, hungry and homeless. But poverty prevails due to
mismanagement, wickedness, cluelessness, greed, avarice and a culture of waste
imposed on ourselves. Only 15% of the population arrogate to themselves all the
milk and honey in the land while the remaining 85% of the population is left to
suffer in abject want.
Almighty Allah already told homo
sapiens that He had provided enough for those on earth such that they
should neither be hungry, thirsty, homeless or naked. “You shall not be hungry
there or go naked. Neither will you be thirsty or suffer from the heat of the
sun” says Qur’an 20:118-119. Yet man’s inhumanity to man will not allow the
resources to go round.
We have no doubt that our infrastructure will come back to life again if
we all stand up to be counted in the silent revolution. There will be drugs and
facilities in the hospitals. Our roads will be safe once again if we plug holes
and stop corruption. Our youth will bounce back with hope and Nigerians in
diaspora will not only walk the streets of Europe and America with pride, they will
have a home to which they can return.
In
conclusion, we appeal to Nigerian politicians to allow Buhari to clean the
system. We charge the National Assembly (NASS) to work for Nigeria and not for any
individual. We warn that any attempt by
those in the NASS to impede Buhari’s selfless and silent revolution will be
resisted by the masses.
In view of promising signs of good governance with Buhari in the driver’s
seat, we appeal to the advanced democracies of the world to come to Nigeria’s
aid. Nigeria cannot do it alone. A lot will be achieved if foreign countries
refuse to collaborate with corrupt Nigerian officials.
Foreign powers must facilitate speedy repatriation of money stolen from
Nigeria. In addition, countries like Sweden which make it possible for people
to hold secret foreign accounts must review its fiscal laws and make them less
conspiratorial.
Professor
Ishaq Akintola,
Director,
Muslim
Rights Concern (MURIC)
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