President Muhammadu Buhari, on Tuesday, said God is very sympathetic to Nigeria.
He said this when the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) and Assembly Healthcare Professionals Associations (AHPA) visited him at the State House, Abuja.
Buhari appealed to them to bear with the administration in their demands as it braces up for the challenges posed by coronavirus to the economy.
“Your case is certainly receiving attention, but you must bear in mind the condition that the country is in now. Coronavirus is not improving matters. It is affecting what we very much depend on, the petroleum industry and therefore revenue,” he said.
Buhari also called on the visitors to appeal to the patriotic sentiments of their members in these trying times and continue to work for further development of the country.
“So please try and help us with your people. Let us be patriotic, let us look at the ways and means of the government and appeal for restraint.
“We have to emphasize that it is very important we maintain cohesion together because if we allow sentiments or popularity to overwhelm our reasoning faculties, we will be in trouble and it will be too late for us to adjust, so please bear with us,” he said.
Buhari stressed that his administration’s successful drive for food self-sufficiency in the last four years will definitely come in handy now with the drop in government revenue.
“We thank God. God is very sympathetic to us. The three previous rainy seasons were good. We had good foresight in getting fertiliser, making it available and we virtually achieved food security.
“We made good decisions, and we saved hundreds of millions of dollars on importation of food. If not, we would have been in real trouble,” the President added.
