In one of his first full interviews as President-elect, Gen. Muhammudu Buhari discusses how he plans to tackle Boko Haram while also warning Nigerians not to expect a miracle when his administration tackles the menace.
The interview which was conducted by the BBC’s Peter okwoche questions about the gesture of President Goodluck Jonathan in congratulating him on his victory and his thoughts about Boko Haram were thrown at the General.
In the interview the General says he feels
fulfilled in acheiving his goal after four attempts in becoming president (2003, 2007, 2011 and 2015).
the interviewer asked: “were you surprised when President Goodluck Jonathan called you to concede defeat and say congratulations because that's a new thing here in Nigeria”?
Buhari replied: “I am not surprised because he (Jonathan) has been talking to international community; United States especially Britain and I think he is respectful of those countries and their leadership but it was something extraordinary thaty as commander in Chief and President that he should allow the law to take its course, let the Nigerian election be conducted according to law. That is all they asked him”
He added; ” he signed an undertaking and I think he did his best”
When asked about how he would go about fulfilling his promises to Nigerians, Buhari replied; “I wouldn’t have made the promises if I don’t know how to go about it. We identified a number of problems that is insecurity in the country which everybody knows; the lack of employment which is the situation of the economy generally by corruption and corruption itself
“This three fundamental problems, Nigerians know it and we are asking Nigerians for their cooperation and they should’t expect miracles to happen a couple of months later because the situation took so many years which is 16 years of the ruling party’s rule of this country”.
He also expressed believe that Nigerians will give he and his administration the opportunities to do what they can.
Buhari was asked what tactics his adminstration will use to tackle Boko Haram; “peaceful negotiations or hitting them hard” in which he asked “Hitting them with what?
He continued: “Boko Haram by the 14th of February at the elections that was postponed, were according to government calculations were in charge of fourteen local governments. These are 14 local governments out of 774 local governments.
“If for five, six years the law enforcement agencies including the military could not secure fourteen local governments out of 774, how can I promise miracles when i come?”
He added: “But with the cooperation of our neigbours; Cameroon, Niger, Chad and the international community and the commitment we are going to get from the military, it will take us a much shorter time to deal with them”
When told his party members are as corrupt as those he plans to fight against and asked if he would corruption to its fullest, Buhari said “I hope you (the interviewer) and Nigerians will give me the opportunity to see whether me effort will be good enough or not”
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