Buhari kicks off re-election campaign, warns politicians not to set Nigeria ablaze

President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, flagged off his re-election campaign at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja with an appeal to politicians to go about their campaigns peacefully, and not set the county ablaze.

The president said his administration had recorded milestone in the last three years and is looking forward to fulfilling more if given a new term.

“I am not unmindful that the national assembly and the presidential campaign starts today, I will implore candidates to go about the campaigns peacefully and decently,” he said.

“We have no other country, let us not set it ablaze because of politics.”

Buhari spoke on his plans to overhaul the education sector.

“Every child counts – and simply, whatever it takes to prepare our teachers, curriculum and classrooms to attain the right educational goals that grow our country, will be done,” he said.

“We will remodel 10,000 schools every year and retain our teachers to impart science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics using coding, animation, robotics to re-interpreter our curriculum.”

He said his administration had done a lot in fighting corruption but admitted that there is still much to do.

“Corruption is an existential threat to Nigeria. Despite the gains we have made in closing the gates, we know that there is still much ground to cover to stop the systemic corruption,” he said.

“We are committed to deepening the work we started this first term such that the nation’s assets and resources continue to be organised and utilised to do good for the common man.

“The next four years will be quite significant for our country. Nigeria is faced with a choice to keep building a new Nigeria – making a break from its tainted past which favoured an opportunistic few.

“Our choices will shape us – our economic security and our future prosperity. Nigeria, more than ever before, needs a stable and people-focused government to move the agenda for our country forward.”

… reiterates commitment to national unity

President Muhammadu Buhari has said his administration is committed to national unity and religious harmony, urging Nigerians to embrace the effort.

He gave the assurance yesterday during the 10th Anniversary of Muslim Ummah of South West Nigeria (MUSWEN) and N5 billion launch of MUSWEN International Centre in Ibadan.

The president’s message was read at the event by the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu.

Buhari urged religious leaders to embrace religious tolerance to achieve peaceful co-existence and national unity, re-stating his administration’s commitment to religious harmony and national unity.

The president commended MUSWEN and its leaders for their contributions to national growth and development, saying the south west Muslim leaders were the most dedicated.

Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State acknowledged MUSWEN’s support and contributions to the successes recorded by his administration.

He appealed to religious leaders to disseminate message of tolerance, unity, peace and tranquillity in their sermons, particularly as the 2019 general election approached.

Ajimobi said it was only in the atmosphere of peace that development and growth could thrive in any society.

The Sultan of Sokoto, Alh. Sa’ad Abubakar, urged all to always extend hands of fellowship to others, irrespective of religious differences, ethnicity and status in the society.

He counselled Nigerians to eschew the use of foul languages on others even when they felt so much aggrieved, saying the nation could only achieve greatness through tolerance and unity of purpose.

The Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi, in a keynote address entitled “Muslim Voice on Good Governance”, said the topic was timely considering the challenges facing the country.

He said that Islam and Muslim political heritage had profound principles, norms and practices for good governance, saying such predated modern democracy which was about 200 years.

“Muslims should be at the fore front in advocating and leading with examples in good governance.

“This has become necessary because our political culture has deteriorated and increasingly mercantile, where money is everything.

“This is responsible for bad governance that has characterised the polity, subverted development, perpetrated poverty as well as elicited the unending social conflicts.”

Sanusi said money-based politics would continue to fuel unprecedented corruption seen in the society today, saying pristine values as a people had been supplanted and the future thrown into jeopardy.

He urged all political, spiritual and traditional leaders to join hands in salvaging the polity from the danger posed by the current political culture.

The Chairman of the occasion, Wale Babalakin commended MUSWEN for the sustenance of its meaningful contribution to Islam and national development in the last 10 years.

He appealed to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to call off its industrial action and dialogue with government, assuring them of meaningful resolution of the issue.