A Professor of Islamic Studies, Badmas 'Lanre Yusuf, in Ilorin yesterday admonished President Muhammadu Buhari to curtail the excesses of some state governors who might not share his ideology of restoring the country on the path of progress.

He said if those administering various constituent parts of the country lacked sincerity of purpose in their affairs, it would be difficult for the president to actualise his lofty dreams for the country.

Yusuf, who spoke in an exclusive interview with The Herald, opined that Nigerians would not see anything plausible in the government of Buhari when some state governors refused to pay workers salaries devoid of tangible explanation.

The don, who is Dean, Postgraduate School, University of Ilorin, also expressed concern that the government had surrounded itself with hawks, who were bent on truncating the system if their usual stock in trade was not allowed to continue.

Yusuf, a one-time Provost, Kwara State College of Arabic and Islamic Legal Studies, Ilorin, said the ascendancy of Buhari to power was embedded with good intention, but must be cautious of pretenders who were only in the system to feather their nests.

He also urged the president to be vigilant on the happenings across the country with a view to nipping the excesses of unpatriotic elements in the bud.

"I want to appeal to all of us including my humble self, that we should be patient with regime of Muhammadu Buhari, because there is no debating the fact that he has good intention for this country, and there is no debating the fact that he is surrounded by hawks people who do not share in the patriotic feeling of Mr president, but they are only pretending. What they say is different completely from what they have in mind, and some of them would be full of regret now that had they known, they wouldn't have supported Buhari, who would not allow access to the public fund.

"Buhari needs to caution the governors. You can imagine, no matter how good the head may be, those who are in charge of various constituents of the country, if they are not sincere, they would be constituting themselves into a kind of road block to the progressive movement of the president.

"If you are not able to pay salary and you don't have cogent explanation for that and a lot of people are dying, no matter how brilliant the performances of Buhari may be, for the affected people in that state, they would not see anything plausible in what Buhari has been able to do.

"I want to appeal to Mr President to monitor what is happening all over the country with eagle eyes. There is separation of power, but a state cannot be turned into a den of hire killers like its happening in Rivers. We shouldn't fold our arms and allow the hell to let loose in the name of politics. The government should use every available legal means to nip that in the bud.

"Similarly, people declaring openly that they are going to bomb oil pipeline, the people should not allow the sentiment of some people to becloud the sense of judgment of the president. As long as the good people of Nigeria voted for Buhari to be president, it means that he has the totality of responsibility to protect life and property especially the resources of the country", Yusuf said.