LAGOS FEBRUARY 7TH (URHOBOTODAY)- President Muhammed Buhari has come under fire for the comments he made in an interview with The Telegraph, a UK- based newspaper, with the headline ‘Nigeria’s Reputation for Crime Has Made
Them Unwelcome in Britain, Says Nigeria’s President.’
In reaction, Ben- Murray Bruce took to Twitter and blasted Buhari in a series of tweets.
“But why will a President go abroad to say with his own mouth that his own people have a reputation for crime?
“President @MBuhari, Nigerians are not criminals. Nigerians are honest hardworking people. #IAmANigerianNotACriminal. If you agree you are a criminal, who am I to disagree? But certainly in the case of my followers and I, he is lying!”
He continued, making reference to comments made by Buhari before being elected in 2015.
“Mr. President, you once believed we weren’t criminals. When did you change your mind? #IAmANigerianNotACriminal
“Bernie Madoff stole $50 Billion, the largest theft in the world. That doesn’t make all Americans thieves! Don’t generalize because of a few!”
In this row- causing interview published on 5 February 2015, President Buhari made references to Nigerian asylum- seekers who claim that their lives are in danger, hence their need to seek asylum in either Britain or the US.
The Telegraph said that “Nigeria’s President has warned his fellow citizens to stop trying to make asylum claims in Britain, saying that their reputation for criminality has made it hard for them to be “accepted” abroad.
“Muhammadu Buhari, the tough ex-general elected last year, said those who had joined the migrant exodus to Europe were doing so purely for economic reasons rather than because they were in danger.
He added that because of the number of Nigerians imprisoned for law-breaking in Britain and elsewhere, they were also unlikely to get much sympathy. “We have an image problem abroad and we are on our way to salvage that””, the newspaper wrote.
According to the newspaper, Buhari further said: “Some Nigerians claim is that life is too difficult back home, but they have also made it difficult for Europeans and Americans to accept them because of the number of Nigerians in prisons all over the world accused of drug trafficking or human trafficking.
“I don’t think Nigerians have anybody to blame. They can remain at home, where their services are required to rebuild the country”, he told The Telegraph.