I Appreciate Your Patience With Me – President Buhari Thanks Nigerians

President Muhammadu Buhari has told Nigerians that he appreciates their patience with him as he leads the country through challenging economic terrains.

The President said this on Tuesday during the virtual commissioning of the National Gas Expansion Programme and National Auto-gas Roll-out Initiative at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Buhari was also full of commendation for the organized labour as he noted that the union exhibited great maturity and patriotism despite provocations caused by economic challenges.

According to a statement titled ‘Economy: President Buhari appreciates Nigerians for patience, urges more use of gas as alternative to petrol’ Femi Adesina, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President quoted Buhari as saying, “Let me now express my deep appreciation to Nigerians for their patience, and organised labour for its maturity and patriotism as we collectively navigate these global economic and other challenges.’’

The President then appealed to Nigerians to consider using gas as an alternative to petrol, noting that Nigeria is endowed with the natural resource but has not been using it optimally in the past.

He, however, noted that the country is ready to exploit its proven reserve of about 203 Trillion Cubic Feet of gas for industrial and domestic purposes even as the global community and other countries of the world are also embracing this alternative energy which Nigeria has in abundance.

In his words, “Therefore, the roll-out of the National Gas Expansion Programme, Auto-gas initiative is coming at the right time, especially in light of global crude oil market fluctuations coupled with the full deregulation of the local PMS market.

“These developments have made it imperative to focus on gas as an alternative fuel to move Nigeria from the conventional dependence on white products for autos and prime-movers of industrial applications, to cleaner, more available, accessible and affordable energy source.

“The outcome will not only cushion the effect of the downstream deregulation that this government has to painfully implement, but also create new markets and enormous job opportunities for our people.’’