PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has said that he has not succumbed to pressure to refrain from blaming the past administrations of Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan, because the youth must know how the former leaders deceived the country.
Speaking on Thursday night at an occasion tagged: “Conversation with Creative Youth and Pictorial Book,” at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, he said if he ceases to blame previous governments for the nation’s woes, the youth may take things for granted.
The president maintained that his passing the buck was necessary.
The president said having promised to do a lot during his election campaign, he screamed when he realized that there was no saving from previous administrations to do his work.
He pointed out that on enquiry, he was told that the governments used the money to import fuel and food while failing to build a single infrastructure.
Buhari therefore urged the youth to be watchful of what the elite does.
President Buhari told the youth: “My dear countrymen especially the youth, you have a fantastic country, God has endowed Nigeria with human and material resources.
“I’m not going to bore you with what we met, I know I’m being accused in the papers of passing the buck but passing the buck is sometimes absolutely necessary, to remind people who take things for granted.
“When we came in by some unfortunate coincidence.
“I screamed to high heavens because I had promised a lot seeking vote. I said where is the savings? There was no savings.
“There was no infrastructure, power, rails, roads, there was none. What did we spend the money on? I was told buying food and petrol.
“Where were the billions going? We conducted a study and found out that the oil marketers were committing fraud on at least one third of what they were importing, which is about 25 percent of our foreign exchange.
”The youth must watch our elites. The condition we found ourselves, it is unpatriotic for anybody to pretend that economically we have not a problem.
“We have gone into the farms. I congratulate some of the governors and by the grace of God by the end of this government, we will be exporting rice and grains.
“So, all the money alleged to have been used to import will be available to sustain development.
“I have bored you with this long explanation because there are things that could be hidden from you by those that has mismanaged the country in the last 16, 17 years.
“I assure you that we will set the ball rolling in terms of security, industrialization, manufacturing and food security.
“I said it years ago and I still mean it, we have no other country than Nigeria, we will stay here and salvage it together.”