Buhari lambasts Nigerians, says change isn’t about economic progress

President Muhammadu Buhari has said that
before Nigerians demand to see the
changes he promised them during the 2015
election, they must first change their own
attitude by shunning corruption and other
social vices.
He adds that change is not about
economic or social progress, but it is in
terms of citizens’ personal behaviour.
Buhari said this while delivering a speech at
the inauguration of the national re-
orientation campaign tagged, ‘Change
Begins With Me’ in Abuja on Thursday.
The President acknowledged that Nigeria is
currently passing through a challenging
period where hardly anything works
normally.
He lamented that honesty, hard work and
godliness had given way to all kinds of
manifestations of lawlessness and
degeneration in our national life.
Buhari said, “Our citizens must realise that
the change they want to see begins with
them, and that personal and social reforms
are not a theoretic exercise. If you have not
seen the change in you, you cannot see it in
others or even the larger society.
“In other words, before you ask ‘Where is
the change they promised us?’, you must
first ask, ‘How far have I changed my
ways? What have I done to be part of the
change for the greater good of society?’
The President said his government had
done well in the fight against corruption,
adding that the fresh campaign was a way
of getting Nigerians to join in the struggle.
He added, “The campaign we are about to
launch today is all about the need for us to
see change, not merely in terms of our
economic, social progress but in terms of
our personal behaviour on how we conduct
ourselves, engage our neighbours, friends
and generally how we relate with the larger
society in a positive and definitive way and
manner that promotes our common good
and common destiny, change at home,
change in work place, change at traffic
junction, change at traffic lights, etc.”
He said the value system of the nation had
been eroded and that was why students
would prefer to embrace cultism rather than
face their studies. He said it was for the
same reason youths were vandalising oil
pipelines thus robbing the nation of much-
needed resources.
Buhari said the disintegration of social
values encouraged impunity and corruption
in the public sector which ultimately led to
the current economic recession.