The Comptroller-General of Customs, Col.
Hameed Ali (retd.), has said that the change agenda of President
Muhammadu Buhari’s administration has been derailed because it had not
kept to its promises.....
Ali said this at the unveiling of an ultra-modern Buhari Support Organisation office complex in Jabi, Abuja, on Friday.
The BSO is the umbrella body of all
pro-Buhari support groups that articulated and coordinated the
President’s 2015 presidential campaigns.
The customs boss said the challenge ahead of 2019 elections was bigger than that of 2015.
He said the event was designed to
rekindle “what we started in 2015 and what we used as a vehicle to fight
in the trenches, out of the trenches, along routes and in so many
different terrains to see to the success of vision and mission.”
Ali recalled that in the pursuit of the
vision, so many lost their jobs and businesses in a bid to bring the
change required for a better Nigeria. He noted that some started the
journey (with Buhari) in 2003, others in 2007, 2011 and others joined in
2015.
He, however, expressed regret that halfway through after capturing power, the core values of the change mantra are being lost.
The customs boss said, “Let me say here
without fear of being contradicted that I think halfway through the
journey, we are losing our core values. We are losing our vision and
mission and I think that the idea of our being here today is to look
critically at what we need to do to get back on track.
“There is no doubt that we have derailed
because we are not doing what we say we want to do. Why is it so? We
need to find an answer to that. If we do find an answer; then, what
should we do to get us all back on track? We owe this great nation and
the 180 million Nigerians the duty to give good governance.
“Good governance is what they voted for
and good governance is what they expect to get and they deserve that.
We, therefore, as BSO, have a great task ahead of us. My dear comrades,
the battle and the job start now.
“We have won one battle by taking over
power. But what we make of this power is essential to us and to
humanity. Therefore, I want to take this opportunity to tell my
colleagues here that we have to change the narrative. When we were out
there working and jumping on the streets and reaching every corner, we
were shouting change, change for a better Nigeria.
“Now, the keyword is good governance for
Nigerians. We must agree that we cannot finish our four years without
delivering and leaving something to be remembered for in this country
for a long time to come. We have no problem with our President because
he is on course.”
He re-echoed sentiments earlier
expressed by the Wife of the President, Aisha Buhari, that, “We have
been infused by people who were not part of this journey and these
people are the ones that call the shots today. That is why we are
derailing.”
Ali said “We are the ones that will be
asked to account for what happened. Are we willing to face Nigerians and
tell them that we have failed? I think this is the time for us to come
together, create a system that is very robust enough to fight back and
take back government in our hands and ensure that we deliver.
“I will, therefore, ask my colleagues of
the BSO to go back to the study room. This is a commission, but it is
also the beginning of the fight for good governance. We must get back to
the trenches, draw our own battle plan and battle line. I enjoin you to
have the same commitment we had in 2015; I implore you to bear with us
and commit yourself to a better future for Nigeria.
“We will be calling on you from now on
and we will be working day and night. We must do so because we want to
save our name at the end of the day and the name of the President for
what he is doing.”
Ali was addressing a gathering of most
of the President’s most visible supporters including the Kogi State
Governor, Yahaya Bello, his counterparts from Bauchi and Plateau states,
Mohammed Abubakar and Simon Lalong respectively.
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