President Muhammadu Buhari said yesterday that the people of the Niger Republic would defend him if anyone moved against him after leaving office.
He also said he deliberately shut the nation’s land borders to force Nigerians to patronize goods made in the country.
Buhari, who spoke at the commissioning of the new corporate headquarters of the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, in Abuja, said he was speaking his mind, reiterating his earlier decision to be far away from Abuja at the end of his administration.
He said: “That is why, when I became President, my first visit was to Niger, Chad, and Cameroon because, based on personal and national issues, the neighborhood is very important.
“If you don’t secure the confidence and cooperation of your neighbors, you are in trouble, and your children and grandchildren will be in trouble.
“So it is very good that I established a relationship with my neighbors.” I said these few things about my personal beliefs because I have only six more days to go. And I try to plan to be as far away from Abuja as possible.
‘’Thank goodness, I come from an area that is far away from Abuja. I said, “If anybody forces me, I have a good relationship with my neighbors; Niger people will defend me.”
The President said he closed the country’s land borders to encourage Nigerians to produce food for their consumption, adding that though the move was initially criticized, Nigerians eventually appreciated it.
