The President Muhammadu Buhari-led government is not directly responsible for the economic and insecurity misfortune in the country, Sen. Andrew Uchendu has said.
He blamed the current hardship in the country on poor policies and programmes of successive administrations starting from 1992.
Uchendu said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Port Harcourt on Tuesday shortly after his inauguration as Grand Patron by the Frontier for Peace and Unity, a Non-Governmental Organisation in the South South.
Uchendu, a former lawmaker representing Rivers East Senatorial District, APC, said the Buhari-led government was currently developing the needed infrastructure for a progressive future.
“However, if you say that President Buhari has done well in the marketplace and church, you may be stoned or criticised. But the truth is that he has performed well.
“The gullibility of the society has made it difficult for us to reason and see the truth in the tremendous milestones this administration has made.
“People forget that Nigeria’s problems have been made complex by the failures of successive administration since 1992, which cannot be solely pinned on one government or anybody,” he said.
Uchendu challenged Nigerians to mention one past administration that made the right policies and programmes that completely addressed the challenges in the country at the time.
“But President Muhammadu Buhari-led government has gone back to the basics that made Nigeria a great nation.
“The government has invested heavily in agriculture resulting in the tremendous growth in local rice production, partly helped by the ban on foreign rice imports.
“Government is reactivating the oil palm production; reactivation of ports, railways and development of roads and bridges are ongoing.
“Currently, the second Niger Bridge is being constructed while the airports have been expanded and upgraded to increase commerce in the country.
“Also, programmes, such as Npower and `Trader Moni’ have been created to gainfully engage unemployed citizens,” he added.
The former lawmaker stated that Nigeria cannot attain sustainable economic growth without first addressing the fundamental problems, which according to him, the current administration was doing.
He appealed to states in the South South to realign and identify workable strategies to benefit from the Federal Government policies and programmes as other regions had done.
Uchendu thanked the group for the honour and urged the members to be committed to their mission of preaching peace and unifying the country.
Earlier, Mrs Ikalama Owadiktorusinya, the National Chairperson of Frontiers for Peace and Unity said the group was satisfied with successes of the present Federal Government and desired to partner it.
She said the group was committed to ensuring that the country would transit from one administration to another peacefully in 2023.
On his part, the group’s Secretary in Rivers, Mr ThankGod Okannah, said the group appointed Uchendu as patron due to his vast experience in uniting people across different backgrounds.
“We are focused on talking to Nigerians on the need to be peaceful and shun divisiveness.
“Besides Sen. Uchendu, the Minister of Transportation, Mr Chibuike Amaechi, is also one man that can help advance governance in the country.
“So, we plan to organise seminars across the country to preach the importance of peace, especially as the nation heads toward another general election in 2023,” he noted.
