The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), on Monday in Damaturu, the Yobe State capital, said God foiled “deliberate attempts to destroy Nigeria.”
Buhari also said the country has “bounced back” from its troubled days; thanking members of the Armed Forces and the Police for their sacrifices in protecting the country.
“There was a deliberate attempt to destroy Nigeria but God did not permit it,’’ Buhari said at the palace of the Emir of Damaturu, Hashimi II El-Kanemi.
This is according to a statement signed by the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina.
Expressing delight at the return of normalcy in Yobe State and Northeast Nigeria, the President thanked Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State and his Borno State counterpart, Prof Babagana Zulum, for their persistence in reconstructing schools, health centres and institutions destroyed by the misguided terrorists.
He noted that ‘‘there was a deliberate attempt to destroy Nigeria but God did not permit it,’’ adding that “God has helped Nigeria to bounce back.”
He also commended members of the Armed Forces and the Police for their sacrifices in protecting the country.
The President recounted that having fought to defend Nigeria’s unity during the Civil War, those who were part of that experience would never ‘‘allow anybody to fiddle with this country again.’’