A presidential aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and former head of state, General Muhammadu Buhari, has said the future of Nigeria is the main motivation behind his latest presidential bid.
Speaking with The Cable, in the first part of the interview published on Saturday, Buhari had explained his decision to seek office again, having promised that after his third attempt in 2011, he would no longer present himself for election.
He said since he did not quit partisan politics altogether, his supporters insisted that for as long as he remained a politician, he must contest as he no longer belonged to himself alone.
Buhari further explained his motive and regretted that people are using his age against him.
“What I am doing is for the future of this country. I said this 30 years ago and nobody wrote the speech for me: ‘We have no other country but Nigeria. We have to remain here and salvage it together.’
“I recently heard the interesting story of a man who relocated to the United States (US). His children have now come of age and they have told him they want to come to Nigeria. You can be a nuclear physicist, go to Europe or America to get your dollar worth, but sooner than later, your children will start saying, ‘Daddy, when are we going home?’ Is it not better then to make sure the system is working and conducive for all?
“I have an objective - I want to secure and effectively manage this country. I want to offer leadership to this country. This is my objective.
“Nigeria has been endowed by God with material and human resources. That is why I blame the elite for the state of this country. The elite have failed to organise themselves to realise this God-given favour to Nigeria,” he said.
Asked what wrong impression about him he would like to correct if he had the chance, he responded: “People are talking about my age. It is now as if my age is a disadvantage for my presidential ambition. I would like to perform well in office so that people will know what I am about.”
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