THE anti-corruption agen­da of President Muhamma­du Buhari’s administration has earned him popularity among the international community, the Ambas­sador of France to Nigeria, Denis Guaer, has observed.

Guaer told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that the determi­nation of Buhari to fight corruption had been “his­torical and commendable.

“Buhari presented the fight against corruption as his main priority objective and I think it is probably the main reason why he was elected.

“It is also the reason why he has become immediate­ly so popular also abroad within the international community.

“Everybody is think­ing this president is really willing this time to con­front the problem of cor­ruption.

“I think Buhari is re­ally trying and trying very hard; it appears to me as a historical effort to fight corruption.’’

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Guaer also decried the humanitarian crisis caused by Boko Haram insurgency in the north-eastern part of the coun­try, saying the insurgency was partly due to corrup­tion.

“This brings us back to the question of corruption also. In the whole north­ern part of Nigeria, public services are in a very bad shape.

“Education and health­care are in very bad shape and this is a problem of governance; resources have to be rededicated to restore public services in the whole northern Nige­ria.

“That is difficult now because unfortunately the revenues of Nigeria are down because of the oil price and destruction of oil pipelines,’’ he said.

He expressed concerned about reports that people were starving in Internally Displaced Persons camps, saying the whole interna­tional community must come to the aid of Nigeria.

“Concerning France, we are financing some humanitarian aid pro­grammes with the Inter­national Organisation of Migration, International Committee of the Red Cross, Action Against Hunger and Doctors With­out Borders,” he said.