President Muhammadu Buhari has blamed leaders in the south eastern part of the country for the endless agitations and calls for the creation of Biafra out of the country.
In a nationwide broadcast to commemorate the country’s independence anniversary, the President said silence by the south east leaders in the face of the agitations make the young ones in the area to continue to beat the drums of secession.
“I am very disappointed that responsible leaders of these communities do not warn their hot-headed youths what the country went through. Those who were there should tell those who were not there, the consequences of such folly.
“Recent calls on re-structuring, quite proper in a legitimate debate, has let in highly irresponsible groups to call for dismemberment of the country. We cannot and we will not allow such advocacy.
“As a young Army Officer, I took part from the beginning to the end in our tragic civil war costing about 2m lives, resulting in fearful destruction and untold suffering. Those who are agitating for a re-run were not born by 1967 and have no idea of the horrendous consequences of the civil conflict which we went through,” he said.
The President said dialogue and agitations for constitutional changes should take place at the National and State Assemblies because they are the “proper and legal fora for National debate, not some lop-sided, un-democratic body with pre-determined set of objectives.”
The President also spoke on the agitations in the Niger Delta region, saying that the federal government would keep up the momentum of dialogue with stakeholders to keep the peace.
He said government was determined to address genuine grievances of the Niger Delta communities, adding that “government is grateful to the responsible leadership of those communities and will pursue lasting peace in the Niger Delta.”
On security, the President said Nigerians must be grateful to the Armed Forces for rolling back the frontiers of Boko Haram’s terrorism, defeating them and reducing them to cowardly attacks on soft and vulnerable targets.
With respect to the economy, the President said government has remained pro-active in its diversification policy, stressing that the agricultural Anchor Borrowers Programme has been an outstanding success with N43.92 billion released through the CBN and 13 participating institutions; 200,000 small holder farmers from 29 states of the federation benefiting; 233,000 hectares of farmland cultivating eight commodities, namely Rice, Wheat, Maize, Cotton, soya-beans, Poultry, Cassava and Groundnuts, in addition to fish farming.
On corruption, the President said government was aware that fighting corruption was never going to be a straightforward task, stressing that government has empowered teams of prosecutors, assembled detailed databases, and accelerated the recovery of stolen funds.
He said government was mindful of the fact that expected corrupt elements would use any weapon to fight back, mainly judicial obstruction and political diversion, adding that the present administration is determined to eradicate corruption in the country.
