Buhari weeps at final rally

Presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) wept yesterday in Abuja as he closed his campaign.

It was midway into his speech at the International Press Centre where he addressed his supporters to ‘round-off his campaign. He said this is the last time he would seek to lead the country.

As Buahri fought back tears, the hall fell into a grave silence. It was emotionally charged. Not a few in the audience were equally moved to tears. Among them was former Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Mallam Nasir el-Rufai.

This is the third time in a row that Buhari has sought the mandate of Nigerians. He contested in 2003 and 2007.

Reviewing the state of the nation, Buhari said urgent solution was required to save Nigeria from being a failed state, based on the enormity of the problems confronting it.

Buhari said: “Our tour across the country, though not the first in my military and political career, has further shown me the enormity of the problems facing our people that need urgent and clinical solution, if the country is not to collapse before our very eyes. There are social, infrastructural and environmental ills that have combined to inflict intolerable hardship on our people.

“I am in this solely for the love of my country and the concern for its destiny and the fate of its people. And that is why, despite the many disappointments along the way, I am still in the struggle and will remain in it to the end. I have decided to dedicate the remainder of life to fighting for the people of this country, until their right is restored. I call upon the governments in power at all levels, the Independent National Electoral Commission and the security agencies at all levels to be fair and just to all parties and candidates in all elections for all offices.

“You have persevered during the accreditation process and you have waited patiently to cast your votes. That is good but, for our circumstance, it is not good enough. You must maintain your presence during the counting and collating of the votes and the announcement of the results.”

Buhari likened the 12 years of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government to an unfulfilled dream, not being able to solve the fundamental problems of Nigeria and Nigerians’ adding that: “Any government that cannot solve the fundamental problem for the citizens is a failure, and with all due respect, the PDP in the last 12 years has aggravated the problem.”

The Kastina State-born retired General noted that the 2011 presidential campaign is very significant to him, due to the level of support and interest shown by the people who, according to him are far more than the experience in 2003 and 2007.

“This campaign is the third and the last one for me, since after it, I will not present myself again for election into the office of the president,” he said.

Highlighting the problems facing the country, Buhari said the Nigerian problem is not peculiar to any geo-political zone in the country or to a religious sect.

“We saw these problems in 2003 and 2007. Not only are they still very much around, they are, in fact, getting worse by the day. From the desert encroachment in Kastina, my home state in the North, the soil erosion in Enugu in the East, and the environmental pollution in Bayelsa, the home state of the President in the Niger Delta to the incursion on the Lagos landscape by the ocean in the south.

“The ecological challenges across the country remain a source of fear for our people. They are problems that we face daily as individual human beings and they are not the problems of the North or the South, Muslims or Christians, they are Nigeria ’s problems.”

He said if voted into office in Saturday’s election, the CPC would first tackle problems in five key areas. They are: Security of lives and property; raising the standard of education; investing in human capital development and providing quality services at all levels of education.

The highlight of the rally included the unveiling of the CPC manifesto and the formal declaration of support by a former member of the Peoples Democratic Party Board of Trustees from Nasarawa State, Alhaji Ishaku Ibrahim and three legislators from the state.