The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Nwabueze Ngige, has stated that the country would have been in crisis if not for President Muhammadu Buhari’s “impeccable leadership qualities”.
Chris revealed this on Wednesday after his induction as an honorary fellow of the Institute of Leadership, Entrepreneurship and Corporate Governance (INSLEC) in Abuja.
He stated that if not for Buhari’s leadership qualities, the country would be in an economic and political crisis like Venezuela.
He said, “A good leader must be an implementation man. He should be knowledgeable because, after the vision, he will dissect and crystalize them. He should be a jack of all trades and master of all. He may not score distinction in all but should be able to score distinction in many. He must also be courageous to implement hard decisions. If you don’t implement courageously, some of the visions will die or will not be implemented for the good of all.
“He must also be compassionate, knowing when to temper justice with mercy, to show the human part of him. He should exude milk of human kindness.
“I know that our country is passing through a very rough time now because we have not planned well; it is not this administration. We know we were all dependent on oil. So, when oil prices came crashing and when security issues arose, disrupting production, we were caught napping. Because of that, we went into recession. Later on, COVID-19 forced us to go into a second recession. We are not yet out of the woods.
“We thank God; I am part of this government. I know that if we don’t have the kind of leader that we have who is strong like President Muhammadu Buhari, the experience of Nigeria would have been like that of Venezuela.”
Ngige added that if not for Buhari, the citizens of Nigeria would have spilled into Cameroon, Niger, and other places as refugees.
“But he forced us all to go into agriculture. We made agriculture the first signature program of the administration and provided food security so that we can eat whatever we grow here,” he stated.