The chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Professor Chidi Odinkalu, has condemned President Muhammadu Buhari’s trend of revealing his plans for Nigeria during his visits to foreign countries.
He described it as inconsiderate of the needs of Nigerians, saying the president needed to carry the people along in his change agenda.
Odinkalu stated this during a conference to brainstorm on the roles of Integrity and Accountability in National Development in Abuja on Wednesday, September 16, Channels TV reports.
“Change from where we are to where we want to get to involves a discussing process of leaders talking to Nigerians. The idea of always hearing things from our president when he is outside the country is offensive. We need a leadership that will trust our people, speak to our people like we are mature, speak to us like we own this country,” he said.
The NHRC boss asked President Buhari to stop announcing his plans for the country in foreign countries but to rather reveal it in Nigeria where the people deserve to know his plans for governance without reading or hearing about them in the foreign media.
According to him, Buhari should lead the change needed to instill integrity that will cause development by talking to Nigerians.
He added that any effort to make things right in the country would not yield any meaningful results without integrity and accountability.
Buhari disclosed that he would constitute his cabinet before the end of September during his visit to Ghana on September 7. He made the vow in Aburi, Ghana, in the course of a press conference with President John Dramani Mahama.
He also revealed during his three-day visit to Paris, France, that the federal government was negotiating with the dreaded Boko Haram sect to secure the release of Chibok girls. The president, however, noted that the Nigerian government was yet to ascertain if the terrorists’ leaders it is having the discussions with were genuine.
He described it as inconsiderate of the needs of Nigerians, saying the president needed to carry the people along in his change agenda.
Odinkalu stated this during a conference to brainstorm on the roles of Integrity and Accountability in National Development in Abuja on Wednesday, September 16, Channels TV reports.
“Change from where we are to where we want to get to involves a discussing process of leaders talking to Nigerians. The idea of always hearing things from our president when he is outside the country is offensive. We need a leadership that will trust our people, speak to our people like we are mature, speak to us like we own this country,” he said.
The NHRC boss asked President Buhari to stop announcing his plans for the country in foreign countries but to rather reveal it in Nigeria where the people deserve to know his plans for governance without reading or hearing about them in the foreign media.
According to him, Buhari should lead the change needed to instill integrity that will cause development by talking to Nigerians.
He added that any effort to make things right in the country would not yield any meaningful results without integrity and accountability.
Buhari disclosed that he would constitute his cabinet before the end of September during his visit to Ghana on September 7. He made the vow in Aburi, Ghana, in the course of a press conference with President John Dramani Mahama.
He also revealed during his three-day visit to Paris, France, that the federal government was negotiating with the dreaded Boko Haram sect to secure the release of Chibok girls. The president, however, noted that the Nigerian government was yet to ascertain if the terrorists’ leaders it is having the discussions with were genuine.
