A member of the Board of Trustees of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje, has urged Nigerians to exercise patience with President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, saying the president is determined to ensure their economic well-being.
Speaking with journalists in Ilorin at the weekend, Alhaji Baraje said constitution of 209 boards of federal parastatals by the administration was the beginning of good things that Nigerians would witness in the new year.
“I concede that 2017 has been a year [full] of challenges. If anybody says it was not a year of challenges, he or she must have come from the moon. I believe very sincerely that there is no hardship without a smooth end.
“And my message is patience, more perseverance, more endurance, we believe in God and our leaders, that we shall get there. I appeal to our youths, our mothers and everybody to be patient with the government.
“2018 is a political year, the state government will continue its laudable programmes, but I promise you there will be changes in the campaign promises of APC in both Kwara State and the country at large.
“The constitution of the 209 board members of the ministries and parastatals shows that year 2018 will be a promising year. It is a sign of good things to come in the new year; that means that President Muhammadu Buhari is making do with his campaign promises. I know President Buhari will fulfill his promises,” he said.
The member of the BoT also urged Kwara electorate, particularly youths, to persevere, saying, “it is their right to be restive because an idle hand is the devil’s workshop. We are not happy that the youths are not employed. But it is the economic hardship of the country that is actually causing the ripples. I believe that things can get better. Before the middle of 2018, we shall all begin to see changes.”
On his comments that went viral on the social media alleging rift between Senate President Bukola Saraki and Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed, the APC chieftain said: “I’m so happy that my speech went viral on the socio-media. Though the speech was delivered in Yoruba language, it was because we wanted the message to get to our people.
“What we said there was straightforward. In Nigeria today, hardly can you find anybody in whatever stratum that is not complaining of the economic hardship.
“So the first message I delivered was to plead with the entire people of the state and Nigerians as a whole on behalf of the Senate President Bukola Saraki, that economic hardship is not only peculiar to Kwara state alone. It is a national issue and that very soon we shall overcome. And that the Senator Saraki has promised that youth unemployment which, he made as part of his campaign promises would soon become a thing of the past.
“Indeed, he has started combating that, but he is yet to be satisfied. This is because of the economic hardship in the country and particularly his own handicap.
“We went further to say that he has a covenant with the people and that the people should always consider his covenant with them. That is why the mischief-makers went into the social media reading meanings to what we have said. But I am happy that the governor we have today is reasonable, experienced, knowledgeable and can read in-between the lines and I am sure the mischief-makers will not succeed where they are trying to cause confusion.
“Have you ever seen a situation where a man will contribute to the building of a house, right from foundation to completion levels, well painted, furnished and the house is beautiful. The next thing people are praising him for great edifice in collaboration with others. The next thing he does is to pick digger and starts to demolish it? I am part and parcel of this government. I helped to put the government together. I cannot be part and parcel of anything to pull it down.”