Former President Muhammadu has maintained that he did his best in the eight years he governed Nigeria, and that he would leave it to Nigerians to judge whether he achieved the objectives of his administration.
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Nigeria’s former President made the statement in his first interview since he handed over power to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Buhari in the interview with Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) on Monday night, argued that Nigerians were a difficult set of people to govern.
Former President Muhammadu Buhari’s exclusive interview on @NTANewsNow. pic.twitter.com/gssMGWu3jq
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He maintained that Nigerians know the right thing to do, but would mostly refuse to do so, because they think they know better than the person on the saddle.
While responding to a question on the integrity of many of the people surrounding him during his tenure, he responding by saying that “it is their problem.” He queried what the persons who criticized him fiercely had done at their individual levels to fight corruption.
On a question on a cabal hijacking his government, he said “it must have been,” and added that he wasn’t sure anybody flouted the rules and was allowed to “walk away.” He said he allowed people to do their jobs when he assigned tasks, stressing that if he was given the same chance he wouldn’t do anything differently under Nigeria’s current system.
The former president who appeared to veer off point several times during the session, explained that he tried to be as accountable as possible during his administration. He said that he doesn’t miss anything after leaving government.
When asked whether he achieved what he set out to achieve after trying to be president four times, he stated “not quite.” He highlighted the insecurity in Borno state and the North-east when he took over, saying that Boko Haram had been largely degraded at the time he was leaving government. He listed Security, the economy and fighting corruption as the objectives he set out to achieve as president.
“God gave me the opportunity to serve my country, but I did my best. But whether my best was good enough, I leave for people to judge, “ he stressed.
On the naira policy which was largely criticised, Buhari said: “Whether Nigerians believe it or not, we are an underdeveloped country. And in that sort of situation, there’s materialism and sometimes ruthlessly they didn’t care how they made the money.
“…I still feel that the only way I could deprive these people was just to make sure that my integrity became unquestionable…I think as a developing country we still have a long way to go.
“The motivation (for introducing the policy) was to try and make Nigerians believe that there is no shortcut to successful leadership,” he added.
He responded to the Ethiopian/Nigerian Air debacle towards the end of his tenure by saying that if there was any shortcoming he had, it was giving people the free hand to do their work.
Nnamdi Maduakor is a Writer, Investor and Entrepreneur