PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has issued a stern warning to pipeline vandals and saboteurs blowing up oil and gas installations in the country to desist from the unpatriotic act or face the same drastic action be­ing taken against extremist Boko Haram sect by the na­tion’s armed forces.

He gave the warning yes­terday in Beijing, at a meet­ing with members of the Ni­gerian community in China.

“I am aware that in the last two weeks, the national grid collapsed a number of times. I hope this message will reach the vandals and sabo­teurs who are blowing up pipelines and installations. We will deal with them the way we dealt with Boko Ha­ram.

The president pleaded with Nigerians to lower their expectations from his gov­ernment and said there is no quick fix for the nation’s gar­gantuan problems.

He said it would take some painful, long steps to reverse the damage done to the country in the past years.

“We hear proposals for short cuts or quick wins,” Femi Adesina, the presi­dent’s special adviser on media and publicity, quoted him as saying.

“However, all we need to do is look at our history to know that there are no quick wins or short cuts in fixing Nigeria. The many decades of damage and destruction cannot be repaired over­night.

“Clearly, our vision of a diversified and inclu­sive economy will not be achieved overnight. It will be a long, and in some cases, painful journey. I am very confident we will get there. But, we must start that jour­ney now.

“The reform program we are implementing is not be­cause oil prices are below $45 per barrel today. It is be­cause when oil prices were over $100 per barrel, major­ity of Nigerians were still suffering. They were simply forgotten and left behind. So, our reforms are to ensure that the majority of Nigeri­ans are not left behind.”

Buhari also reaffirmed his total commitment to win­ning the war against corrup­tion, saying corruption was an arch-enemy of the nation which had destroyed the lives of many Nigerians.

“Whoever is caught will not be spared. The govern­ment is still being dared, but those who are sensible should have learnt a lesson. Those who are mad, let them continue in their madness.

Buhari assured the Nigeri­an community that the Fed­eral Government was work­ing very hard to overcome current national challenges and deliver on its promise of a better Nigeria.

President Buhari also as­sured the Nigerian commu­nity that his administration was fulfilling its promise of improving security across the country.

“When we came into of­fice in 2015, Boko Haram insurgents occupied 14 local government areas. Today, I am pleased to say the insur­gents have been routed out of these local governments and their capacity to fight as a force has been significantly degraded.

“We will continue work­ing hard to ensure that the group is eliminated. This is achievable. And, we will not settle for anything less,” he said.