Nigerians are extremely difficult – Buhari says

The ex-president also noted that he wouldn’t have governed the country any different from the way he did if he had the chance to be in power again.

After governing Nigeria for 8 years as president, Muhammudu Buhari has concluded that Nigerians are extremely difficult to govern.

Buhari said this during an interview with the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) news – his first interview since he left office in May 29, 2023.

According to him, Nigerians are a difficult bunch to govern because they think they should be the one in control.

The ex-president stated that he did his best for the country, and if the opportunity came again, he wouldn’t do anything differently.

He said, “God gave me the opportunity to serve my country, but I did my best. But whether my best was good enough, I leave for people to judge.

“Nigerians are extremely difficult. People know their rights. They think they should be there, not you.

“So, they monitor virtually every step. And you have to struggle day and night to ensure that you are competent enough.”

When asked about the controversial naira redesign policy which he endorsed at the twilight of his administration, Buhari said he did so to protect his integrity and to show Nigerians that there were no shortcuts to success.

“Whether Nigerians believe it or not, we are an underdeveloped country. And in that sort of situation, there’s materialism and sometimes ruthlessly they didn’t care how they made the money.

“I still feel that the only way I could deprive these people was just to make sure that my integrity became unquestionable… I think as a developing country, we still have a long way to go.”

“The motivation (for the policy) was to try and make Nigerians believe that there is no shortcut to successful leadership,” he added.