The director, publicity and advocacy, Northern Elders Forum, NEF, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, has said the immediate past president, Muhammadu Buhari, lowered the bar of governance in the country.
He said the “woeful performance” of the former president will never be matched by any president.
Mr Baba-Ahmed stated this in an interview with Vanguard Newspaper on Saturday.
The elder statesman also advised President Bola Tinubu not to overburden the citizens with his policies, noting that Nigerians are already stretched.
“Eight years ago when President Buhari came, he cleared all checkpoints, removed Service Chiefs, and ordered the military to relocate to Borno, then Boko Haram was chased and limited substantially. These were greeted by the same euphoria. There was enthusiasm that he would fight corruption, insecurity, and a bad economy.
“But look at where we are now after eight years. We are worse than when he came in. Certainly, the entire country had not been in the situation before. So, forgive me if the Northern Elders Forum has a different perspective on the euphoria as a result of the tentative action or salvo being released by President Tinubu against the economy, corruption and service chiefs, and others. I will rather exercise some reservations.
“It is good he is starting with some policies, but he has to be very careful, he should not rush into putting in policies just because he wants to be different from Buhari. By all means, any worse government will be better than Buhari’s government of misrule, indifference, and incompetence.
“I am sorry if I don’t share your enthusiasm [about Tinubu]. I will rather advise him to be different from Buhari, and address those issues that need to be addressed with courage and sensitivity. Buhari has lowered the bar of governance and lowered our status of existence; insecurity and poverty are more pronounced,” Mr Baba-Ahmed added.
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