Don’t be northern Nigeria’s president,

ABUJA—Elder Statesman and former Nigeria’s Permanent Representatives to the United Nations, UN, Maitama Sule, has charged President-elect, General Mohammadu Buhari, to see himself as a Nigerian President and not only President of  Northern Nigeria when sworn in on May 29. Referring to Buhari’s election as an act of God, Sule also asked him to use the opportunity to correct the social ills of the past.

Maitama Sule spoke yesterday, when he led a delegation of northern elders, including Professor Ango Abudalhi, to pay a congratulatory visit to Buhari in Abuja.

According to him, God granted Nigeria a peaceful election against scary predictions that the country would disintegrate in 2015.

Extolling the virtues of discipline and uprightness in Buhari, the elder states man also urged him to relentlessly pursue justice and make truth his watch word throughout his tenure.

He said:  “You are the president of Nigeria, you are not the president of Northern Nigeria by the grace of God. Your excellency, we have come to congratulate you.

‘’We first of all thank God. What has recently happened to Nigeria is an act of God. Nobody can claim credit for it. Allah has done it for us. Allah has listened to our prayers and our pleas to bring about this change, a change for the betterment of all.

“Nobody expected that the elections would be peaceful, nobody expected that the elections would not lead to the disintegration of the country. By the grace of God, the elections were held peacefully.

‘’We are living in peace with one another. By the grace of God, power will also be handed over to you  (Buhari) and we’ll be living peacefully thereafter by the grace of God.

“On many occasions, I’ve called   for a revolution  but I made it quite clear that I was not calling for a violent or bloody revolution.

“I wanted a kind of revolution led by Mahatma Gandhi, non-violent, bloodless revolution with the philosophy of Sathia Gria. A revolution is a change of attitude.

“Glory be to God, having listened to our prayers, he gave us somebody who has a good record of being a man of God, a truthful man, a man of integrity, a man of discipline.

‘’Yes, you (Buhari) were a military leader. I’ve always said it that when you were a military leader, you instilled discipline into our society.  You fought corruption and you gave Nigeria a sense of direction.

“I am sure you will not compromise your principle but you’ll bring justice, wisdom and diplomacy. I’m sure you’ll not compromise your principline. Let it be the same Buhari that gave the country a sense of direction when he was a military leader.”