Avellon Williams
NIGERIA- Bola Tinubu, presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has praised President Muhammadu Buhari for making Nigerians believe in their country despite increased hardship and massive exodus.
On Tuesday, the former Lagos governor delivered this statement at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, where President Buhari was in attendance.
“As you have worked hard for me, I will work hard for Nigeria. As you (Mr. Buhari) give Nigeria the hope to renew its faith in its country, I will sustain that hope.”
“Those who look helpless today will be helpful in this country. All the agenda set in our programme, renewed hope manifesto will be pursued vigorously with all our energy,” Mr. Tinubu said.
The remarks of Mr. Tinubu come amid the severe economic hardships that have defined the Buhari regime.
Due to prevailing economic and security challenges, Nigerians are increasingly relocating abroad to find better opportunities, with the Nigerian Immigration Service raising an alarm about this worrying trend.
Minister of State for Health, Joseph Ekumankama, lamented the brain drain in the country’s health sector caused by Nigerian doctors leaving the country for greener pastures abroad in August 2022.
Despite the fact that Nigeria’s debt profile has topped N44 trillion and is projected to surpass N77 trillion before Mr. Buhari leaves office, the president in his 2022 Independence Day address acknowledged that “youth poverty” and “unemployment” have remained high despite his efforts.
In addition to historical fuel and naira shortages, Nigerians have suffered gross human rights violations and massacres under Buhari’s regime.
In 2015, Nigerian soldiers killed over 300 Shiite protesters in Zaria and buried them in shallow graves.
It was similarly condemned by Amnesty International in 2016 after soldiers killed over 150 unarmed Indigenous People of Biafra.
On October 20, 2020, soldiers opened fire on #EndSARSprotesters, many of whom were youths protesting against police brutality and extortion.
