Diya Urges Nigerians To Be Patient With Buhari

Lieutenant General Oladipo Diya (Retd} has said that anybody complaining about the government of President Muhammadu Buhari is wasting his time as seven months was too short a period to turn the country around.

In an interview with Vanguard, the former chief of general staff during the regime of General Sani Abacha said that the change promised by the All Progressives Congress (APC) would manifest but not within a short period.

He said: “For these people, who are shouting and asking that, what do they really want that should have happened within the short period that the government has been on seat?

“Do they want things to happen in six or seven months? No! We have a life span of the government, which is four years. It is within seven months and people are complaining. They are just wasting their time. I mean, if a government has a life span of four years with first and second term service, and within seven months out of this serving period, people are complaining, it is not right.”

Diya said the Yorubas trusted Buhari because they’ve known him before he became president.

“The Yoruba generally trust Buhari because they knew him before now. Generally speaking, if you are acquainted with much of the story, the personality of Buhari is enough to sell.

“You see, it is not easy to have a man who has been a General Officer Commanding, a Minister of Petroleum, a Head of State and Chairman Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF), yet, as big as Nigeria is, nobody can really face him and point an accusing finger at him to say, You have done this or that.

“If somebody comes in, he has been this or that and as big as this country is, nobody can say this man has done something bad before, I think it is worthy of appreciation.”Diya said replacing Buhari at the end of his tenure would be difficult to find someone like him.

“When he, President Buhari finishes his tenure, who stands in, who comes in after him will be our big problem. But, maybe we shouldn’t get ourselves troubled over that now because when we get to the river we shall cross it. But it is a problem.”