ON THE SECURITY SITUATION UNDER BUHARI’S WATCH, AND THE CALL FOR HIS RESIGNATION
December 7, 2020 | News
To say that I find it shocking, that the Northern Elders Forum would recently call for President Muhammadu Buhari’s resignation over the increasing insecurity situation in the country under his watch, is really an understatement.
ON THE SECURITY SITUATION UNDER BUHARI’S WATCH, AND THE CALL FOR HIS RESIGNATION
To say that I find it shocking, that the Northern Elders Forum would recently call for President Muhammadu Buhari’s resignation over the increasing insecurity situation in the country under his watch, is really an understatement. The fact that this call is coming from the Northerners, whose brother and kinsman is the Number One man at Aso Rock, is really a welcome development because it shows that indeed, people can actually forget their ethnic and nepotism tendences and do the right thing, say the bitter truth as it is, especially when it has to do with the safety and protection of the Nigerian people.
That is how I saw the position of the Northern Elders Forum, who are asking President Buhari to resign, as reemphasized in a viral video interview by Channels television online. When asked: Has things gotten to that point? The forum’s spokesperson, Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, noted that; “Certainly, the facts on the ground support what we say. The President swore by the Quran, as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, to secure the lives of citizens. He has not been able to do so, over and over again. This is his fifth to sixth year in office. The situation under him is getting worse. And there is no indication that the situation would likely improve. So, what else is left? Other than to ask him to resign. There’s honour in doing that. In democratic and civilized countries, what leaders who fail to protect its citizens, particularly at the scale and the level at which people are dying in Nigeria, is to resign.
“Clearly, he (President Buhari) has failed in the number one responsibility of a leader - which is to protect its citizens. So, yes, things have come to that level, and they are worse than it was before. We have taken our time to access the situation. We didn’t want to rush into judgement. We wanted to give him a chance. Like everyone says, leadership is very difficult. He has a challenging task and responsibility. But four, five, six and seven years - nothing is changing. The same President was saying to Jonathan, two years before he assumed responsibility, to step aside and give him, or others the responsibility to run the country. So, he has had a lot of time to study the situation. He’s a general, he’s the Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces, he’s a military man; so, he doesn’t have an excuse about not knowing how to fight wars. He put people in charge. They are still in charge. But we are losing this war. More internal security challengers are manifesting. More people are dying.
“Every single day, people die in this country. And truly like we have said in our statement. Life has lost its value. One individual was kidnapped; One American Citizen was kidnapped in somewhere in Niger and Northern Nigeria. The US sent its military special force through Niger Republic and through Nigerian, with the consent of our Nigerian troops, foreign Americans came into our country and rescued the person. What do you say to a Nigerian President under whom people are dying? How do you explain what happened in Bornu State? Failure of security, failure of leadership. What else do you say other than to say to Mr. President, clearly, you can’t secure the lives of Nigerians. And if there is honour. If there is respect for public opinion, really there’s no reason why he should continue.”
I have noted quite recently that there is nothing else that I expect President Buhari to do as regards addressing the insecurity situation in the country because his body language and actions, since he came into power, have suggested that this Government does not seem to want to defeat the Boko Haram terrorists. It does not look like they want to defeat them. And there are so many facts on ground to justify this notion, which the Northern Elders Forum have also reiterated. For instance, one would have expected that by now, especially after the recent reported slaughter of about 110 farmers who were harvesting their crops in communities in Bornu State; Mr. President would have sacked the Service Chiefs and rejig the entire Nigerian Armed Forces. As the Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, President Buhari has not even come out to take responsibility of what has been happening, and sternly reiterate confidence in the Nigerian people that he is on top of the situation. We have not seen that from Mr. President. And daily, the insecurity situation in the country keeps going from bad to worse, as human being are killed like as if they are ordinary fowls and rams. Other crimes like kidnapping, armed robbery and violent killings have attained an all-time height all over the place. And the Security Operatives seems to be helpless because they do not have the needed support and encouragement by the Government. Take the kidnap for ransoms for instance, which is often done and demanded with the use of phones but yet, kidnappers cannot be tracked because the Police do not readily have the required technology and gadgets to do so.
It is sad that it is only in this part of the world, where public officials that have demonstrated not to be able to perform in addressing a pressing problem, are still left comfortable in that office. And we expect things to change. It is only a fool that will keep doing the same thing over and over, and keep expecting a different result each time. Whereas in other developed societies, it is either you see them honourably resign, or they are replaced with more competent hands that can address the situation. They cannot be telling Nigerians that they have technically defeated the Boko Haram insurgents, yet innocent lives, including that of our Soldiers in the fields, are killed daily by these terrorists. Yet, nobody has been sacked or replaced. You now wonder why is President Buhari still keeping his Service Chiefs, with all that has been happening?
Let us hope that with this call for Mr. President’s resignation by his own people in the Northern Elders Forum, President Buhari would honourably do the needful because we clearly do not see the security situation in the country improving one bit. I also pray that our Leaders and Elites in the South-South Niger Delta region would learn from this example, by coming out boldly to demand for the resignation/replacement of our evidently underperforming public office holders in Government at all levels. Until we start telling our leaders the truth to their faces, without fear or favour, and also shame them in public rather than hail and praise them like some usually do, we would never see the desired changes and development in our society.
Zik Gbemre.
December 7, 2020
We Mobilize Others To Fight For Individual Causes As If Those Were Our Causes
To say that I find it shocking, that the Northern Elders Forum would recently call for President Muhammadu Buhari’s resignation over the increasing insecurity situation in the country under his watch, is really an understatement. The fact that this call is coming from the Northerners, whose brother and kinsman is the Number One man at Aso Rock, is really a welcome development because it shows that indeed, people can actually forget their ethnic and nepotism tendences and do the right thing, say the bitter truth as it is, especially when it has to do with the safety and protection of the Nigerian people.
That is how I saw the position of the Northern Elders Forum, who are asking President Buhari to resign, as reemphasized in a viral video interview by Channels television online. When asked: Has things gotten to that point? The forum’s spokesperson, Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, noted that; “Certainly, the facts on the ground support what we say. The President swore by the Quran, as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, to secure the lives of citizens. He has not been able to do so, over and over again. This is his fifth to sixth year in office. The situation under him is getting worse. And there is no indication that the situation would likely improve. So, what else is left? Other than to ask him to resign. There’s honour in doing that. In democratic and civilized countries, what leaders who fail to protect its citizens, particularly at the scale and the level at which people are dying in Nigeria, is to resign.
“Clearly, he (President Buhari) has failed in the number one responsibility of a leader - which is to protect its citizens. So, yes, things have come to that level, and they are worse than it was before. We have taken our time to access the situation. We didn’t want to rush into judgement. We wanted to give him a chance. Like everyone says, leadership is very difficult. He has a challenging task and responsibility. But four, five, six and seven years - nothing is changing. The same President was saying to Jonathan, two years before he assumed responsibility, to step aside and give him, or others the responsibility to run the country. So, he has had a lot of time to study the situation. He’s a general, he’s the Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces, he’s a military man; so, he doesn’t have an excuse about not knowing how to fight wars. He put people in charge. They are still in charge. But we are losing this war. More internal security challengers are manifesting. More people are dying.
“Every single day, people die in this country. And truly like we have said in our statement. Life has lost its value. One individual was kidnapped; One American Citizen was kidnapped in somewhere in Niger and Northern Nigeria. The US sent its military special force through Niger Republic and through Nigerian, with the consent of our Nigerian troops, foreign Americans came into our country and rescued the person. What do you say to a Nigerian President under whom people are dying? How do you explain what happened in Bornu State? Failure of security, failure of leadership. What else do you say other than to say to Mr. President, clearly, you can’t secure the lives of Nigerians. And if there is honour. If there is respect for public opinion, really there’s no reason why he should continue.”
I have noted quite recently that there is nothing else that I expect President Buhari to do as regards addressing the insecurity situation in the country because his body language and actions, since he came into power, have suggested that this Government does not seem to want to defeat the Boko Haram terrorists. It does not look like they want to defeat them. And there are so many facts on ground to justify this notion, which the Northern Elders Forum have also reiterated. For instance, one would have expected that by now, especially after the recent reported slaughter of about 110 farmers who were harvesting their crops in communities in Bornu State; Mr. President would have sacked the Service Chiefs and rejig the entire Nigerian Armed Forces. As the Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, President Buhari has not even come out to take responsibility of what has been happening, and sternly reiterate confidence in the Nigerian people that he is on top of the situation. We have not seen that from Mr. President. And daily, the insecurity situation in the country keeps going from bad to worse, as human being are killed like as if they are ordinary fowls and rams. Other crimes like kidnapping, armed robbery and violent killings have attained an all-time height all over the place. And the Security Operatives seems to be helpless because they do not have the needed support and encouragement by the Government. Take the kidnap for ransoms for instance, which is often done and demanded with the use of phones but yet, kidnappers cannot be tracked because the Police do not readily have the required technology and gadgets to do so.
It is sad that it is only in this part of the world, where public officials that have demonstrated not to be able to perform in addressing a pressing problem, are still left comfortable in that office. And we expect things to change. It is only a fool that will keep doing the same thing over and over, and keep expecting a different result each time. Whereas in other developed societies, it is either you see them honourably resign, or they are replaced with more competent hands that can address the situation. They cannot be telling Nigerians that they have technically defeated the Boko Haram insurgents, yet innocent lives, including that of our Soldiers in the fields, are killed daily by these terrorists. Yet, nobody has been sacked or replaced. You now wonder why is President Buhari still keeping his Service Chiefs, with all that has been happening?
Let us hope that with this call for Mr. President’s resignation by his own people in the Northern Elders Forum, President Buhari would honourably do the needful because we clearly do not see the security situation in the country improving one bit. I also pray that our Leaders and Elites in the South-South Niger Delta region would learn from this example, by coming out boldly to demand for the resignation/replacement of our evidently underperforming public office holders in Government at all levels. Until we start telling our leaders the truth to their faces, without fear or favour, and also shame them in public rather than hail and praise them like some usually do, we would never see the desired changes and development in our society.
Zik Gbemre.
December 7, 2020
We Mobilize Others To Fight For Individual Causes As If Those Were Our Causes