Afenifere tackles Buhari over resurgence of terrorism, plea for forgiveness

The pan-Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere, yesterday, expressed serious concern over upsurge in terrorism, following the completion of the 2023 general elections.

The organisation said that the series of attacks on defenceless people and the subversion of economic activities in various parts of the country gave a lot of concern, especially as the country moved towards the handing over of power on May 29, 2023.

In a statement made available to journalists in Ibadan by its National Publicity Secretary, Jare Ajayi, the group decried the instances of kidnapping, killings and other forms of banditry in Osun, Ekiti, Ondo, Ogun, Niger, Edo, Ebonyi, Nasarawa, Kaduna, Zamfara states and a host of others.

Ajayi recalled that the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, while speaking in Katsina this month, had said that the Federal Government would soon “be deploying electronic digital technology to ensure 24 hours inch by inch surveillance of the 4,500 kilometres borderline from the eastern part to the western part, including the coastlines” of the country.

The Afenifere spokesman then wondered why the government of President Muhammadu Buhari is just thinking of taking such a step when it’s about one month for it to go.

Noting the plea by Buhari for those he might have hurt to pardon him, Ajayi said that it would have been much better if the President had listened to various advices and pleas made to him over the years regarding the unfriendly, if not retrogressive, steps his administration had taken.

“The maxim has it that ‘to err is human, to forgive is divine.’ Without deceiving ourselves, the Nigerian government under the outgoing President Buhari certainly ‘hurt’ a lot of people (to use his own word). Some of them are even no longer alive. Some who are alive have wounds that can hardly ever heal. Both physical and psychosocial wounds. Because the Almighty created many humans to have large hearts, many whom the President had hurt may forgive him. That is for those who are alive. But then, what about thousands who have died as a result of avoidable acts that can easily be traced to the government, such as non-provision of security and welfare as clearly enshrined in the Constitution?” he asked.

Ajayi said that many more people might be inclined to forgive the President and change their notions of him if, within the remaining 34 days he has left in the office, he could effect dramatic changes in policies that could make life less difficult for Nigerians. He added that this is possible to do if the President really wants the negative perception of his administration to ameliorate.

Among the steps Ajayi suggested to be taken were the immediate payment of the eight months salaries of university dons, decisive action that will permanently halt banditry, kidnapping and sundry terrorism activities in the country, allowing those who desire to import fuel to do so for the price of the commodity to come down to less than N100 per litre just as prices of other energies like electricity, gas, kerosene and diesel should come down to about the same N100 per measure instead of about N750 that a litre of diesel now costs.

To ensure that this is permanent, government can license Nigerians who are into modular refineries to start producing even with tax moratorium while serious efforts are made to bring the four refineries in the country back into production line.