Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
The Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) have has said the First Lady, Aisha Buhari’s rebuke at the National Mosque during the National Executive Council meeting of the National Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), was not meant for governors alone but the entire political elite.
The NGF Head, Media and Public Affairs, Abdulrazaque Bello-Barkindo, in a statement, said in the haste to paint governors with one brush or the race to hit the front pages in this case, the media destroyed the message that the First Lady was seeking to convey.
According to the NGF Secretariat, the governors were doing their best to lift Nigerians out of misery and Nigerians are beginning to witness an improvement in their standards of living.
The statement read:
“That Aisha Buhari’s rebuke at the National Mosque during the National Executive Council meeting of the National Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) could not have come at a better time. That the nation’s religious leaders have to be told by none other than the First Lady, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, that things are getting out of hand, is an indictment not just of governors, as the reporters would like the general public to believe, but of the nation’s entire political elite.
“Unfortunately, the haste to paint state governors with one brush or the race to hit the front pages in this case, destroyed the message that the First Lady seeks to convey. Mrs. Buhari was sermonizing on anyone in a position of power or authority to fear Allah in whatever they do because, according to her, as it is said in the scriptures, everybody would eventually account for his deeds before the Almighty God.
“To insinuate, therefore, that the First Lady was referring to Governors when she said, “People cannot afford potable water in this country while we have governors,” erroneously suggests that only State Governors would meet God on the day of judgement.
“It was in the same breath that she said: “We should either fasten our seatbelt (meaning tighten our belts) or do the needful or we will all regret it very soon because, at the rate things are going, things are getting completely out of hand. The VP (Yemi Osinbajo) is here, some ministers are here, they are supposed to do justice to the situation.
“How the reporters at the occasion conveniently forgot the above part of the speech and singled out governors in passing the message, therefore, remains a mystery.
“Governors are doing their best to lift Nigerians out of misery and Nigerians are beginning to witness an improvement in their standards of living because of the conscious efforts of State Governors throughout the country. The nation is replete with remarkable improvements in different facets of public life. For example, public schools in Kaduna have received a serious boost, aged women in Ekiti State are receiving stipends from government to keep their bodies and souls together, food security has taken the front burner in Ebonyi, Lagos and Kebbi States, unqualified Permanent Secretaries have been uprooted in Adamawa State and youth empowerment has taken center stage in Ogun.