The way things are going on in Nigeria is totally unacceptable. The media anchors and advisers to President Muhammadu Buhari are incompetent and are not realistic. Their media statements to cancel his official engagements so far are a complete package of balderdash. Please, President Buhari is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the most populous black nation in Africa and the world. We have our tentacles spread everywhere in the world. We are still a beckon of hope to African countries and the world. We are not Iraq or Afghanistan for President to cancel state itineraries for frivolous threats to national security.
The media statement on the current cancelation of President’s official visit to the South-East is simply unacceptable. This is the third time he would have to cancel major events that required his presence. In the end, it’s unjustifiable excuses that are dished out.
By jettisoning his official visits he is helping grow the wings of terror, and creating monsters in our land. Please, the president should be presidential and call the bluff of those who are empty threats to national security. We are not asking for war on the people but war on any act of state terrorism. We are becoming a laughing stock in the international community. Enough should be Enough!
It is undoubtedly clear that President Buhari is, of course, capable of handling the situation in Nigeria. Boko Haram is being crushed and the economic saboteurs are being arrested to account for their illegal wealth. But what one is miffed at is Abuja’s stance in succumbing to EMPTY threats. It is also frustrating to note how legal technicality is impeding Buhari’s efforts at sanitising the system. I bet you, nothing would have happened if security is put in place in advance of Mr. President’s official visit to any region in the country. In security parlance, there’s what we call security surveillance, counterterrorism and intelligence ( i.e. information gathering, surveillance, reconnaissance and espionage) before any presidential visit to any state or country. Are we postulating that the president will avoid going to the South-East or other hotbeds for the rest of his administration?
Because we are used to Banana republics and the dystopian way of doing things in Nigeria, that is why the advisers of Mr. President are not advising him properly on a matter premised on national security. Security is not convenient. It is an active exercise that works to counter any act of terrorism or any violent protest. We all have our constitutional rights to peaceful protests but when the national security is threatened, it is the responsibility of a state to maintain law and order against perceived or real threat to national security. It is a welcome development for President to avert violence, but the watery statement of the media arm of his administration did not manage the situation adequately well. That official statement gives leverage to his adversaries.
Yielding to empty threats to embolden the militants and encourage other terrorists is inimical to stability and national security. Nigeria is a difficult country to administer but easy when we do the right thing. The president has good intentions for Nigeria, but he’s encumbered in many ways. His body language when he came to power was reassuring. But all that is fading away.
President Buhari is missing the opportunity to restructure the country and it seems he is surrounded by opportunistic deal-makers in Abuja. He is a one-man saint in the midst of devils of battalion in the midst of political opportunism .
Anyone can attest to the Hobbesian state of the Eastern region of Nigeria. Every successive government in any state in the zone has been an abysmal failure. So, the agitations there are understandable.
We should know that fairness, unity and peaceful coexistence are recipes for development in any society.
Balogun writes from Arizona, USA
