Nigerians are Extremely Difficult people; They made it tough for me to Govern and I Struggled daily to Meet their Expectation -BUHARI, former president
*‘I did my best in the eight years that I ruled Nigeria in wisdom’
*‘Nigerians monitor virtually you every step of the way. You must struggle day and night to ensure that you are competent enough to please them’
*“God gave me the opportunity to serve my country, I knew I did the best. But whether my best was good enough, I leave that for people to judge”
*BY SAMSON SHOAGA/GROUP Managing Editor in Mexico & GEORGE ELIJAH OTUMU/AMERICA Senior Investigative Editor
FORMER Nigerian president, Muhammadu Buhari, has given an appraisal of his stewardship in office when he stated that it was tough for him to govern Nigerians because he was being monitored with every step and he had to struggle day and night.
Buhari, who maintained that he did his best in the eight years that he ruled Nigeria, said this during an interview with the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA). He described Nigerians as a difficult bunch to manage because “they think they should be” in charge “not you”.
He said, “God gave me the opportunity to serve my country, but I did my best. But whether my best was good enough, I leave it for people to judge.
“Nigerians are extremely difficult. People know their rights. They think they should be there, not you.
“So, they monitor virtually every step you make. You must struggle day and night to ensure that you are competent enough,” he said.
When asked about the integrity of many of the people surrounding him during his administration, the former president stated that “it is their problem.”
He said those doubting what the persons who criticized him fiercely had done at their individual levels to fight corruption.
Buhari said he allowed people to do their jobs when he assigned tasks, stressing that if he was given the same chance, he would not do anything differently under Nigeria’s current system.
The former president stated that he endorsed the controversial naira redesign policy in the twilight of his administration to protect his own integrity and to show Nigerians there was no shortcut to success.
“Whether Nigerians believe it or not, we are an underdeveloped country. And in that sort of situation, there’s materialism and sometimes ruthlessly they didn’t care how they made the money.
“I still feel that the only way I could deprive these people was just to make sure that my integrity became unquestionable. I think as a developing country we still have a long way to go.
“The motivation (for the policy) was to try and make Nigerians believe that there is no shortcut to successful leadership,” he said.
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