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Disturbing parts of Buhari’s speech in Bauchi

The news and stories of wanton killings by herdsmen and suspected herdsmen in Nigeria’s northern parts have reached a deafening crescendo.
The news and stories of wanton killings by herdsmen and suspected herdsmen in Nigeria’s northern parts have reached a deafening crescendo.

 

Disturbing parts of Buhari’s speech in Bauchi

 

Nigeria is in chaos. Leaders should use all speaking opportunities to speak peace, not war, to Nigeria.

People are living in fear in all parts, especially in the Northern that West African country because of the activities of herdsmen who are killing and inflicting pain and fear on the people.

President Muhammadu Buhari has not made any strong statement condemning the activities of the herdsmen. And he got and squandered the opportunity to do so on Friday.

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Nigerian government should rise up to the herdsmen challenge

Buhari’s visit to Bauchi State, North-East Nigeria on Thursday and Friday was a good opportunity to make a strong statement against these marauding Fulani herdsmen. But instead of condemning herdsmen killings, Buhari assured them that he would have been a part of the herdsmen fighters had he not gone to school.

President Buhari said: “Now, look at the farmers /herdsmen’s clashes in the northern part of this country. I have been telling people that if I had not gone to school, I would not have gone into the military and where I come from since my cows are finished; maybe, I would have been involved in this fight”.

By that utterance, Buhari has emboldened the herdsmen to do more harm to their fellow citizens.

One would have expected Buhari to say words like, telling the killer-herdsmen to stop such activities forthwith; that killing a fellow human being is bad; that the government is working hard to ensure that there is peace in Nigeria.

 Buhari did not make any of such comments instead, he emboldened them by identifying in the course of their fight. There is no justification to Buhari’s stance on herdsmen/farmers clashes.

Before Buhari went to Bauchi, the herdsmen had invaded churches in Benue where priests and parishioners were killed. Between January and now, more than 200 people have been killed in Benue alone. Killings are happening simultaneously in other parts of Nigeria.  

Buhari addressed thousands of Bauchi residents in Hausa. He encouraged them to allow their children to go to school.

He said further, “Make every effort to put your children in school, plead with them to be patient and read hard. In this generation, you cannot make it except you are educated.

“But because I went to school, I got a job to do and because of that, desertification is everywhere, there is no bush we will go to and cut down trees and destroy farms and the rainy season is not promising. Because of that, education is the guarantee.

“You should strive hard and be educated, get the education that will benefit you and the society, it is not compulsory that government will give you what to do.”

We state categorically that Buhari’s speech in Bauchi is disturbing. The speech is not fitting of the person of a President of a country. He identified with the Funali alone instead of identifying with Nigeria in general. He chose to be Fulani instead of being a Nigerian. 

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Nigerian government should rise up to the herdsmen challenge

The news and stories of wanton killings by herdsmen and suspected herdsmen in Nigeria’s northern parts have reached a deafening crescendo.
The news and stories of wanton killings by herdsmen and suspected herdsmen in Nigeria’s northern parts have reached a deafening crescendo.

Nigerian government should rise up to the herdsmen challenge

The news and stories of wanton killings by herdsmen and suspected herdsmen in Nigeria’s northern parts have reached a deafening crescendo.  This insecurity challenge has been able to reach this level because authorities, either past or present, failed to take requite actions to nip it in the bud. It is bitter but true that if head-on counter actions are not taken immediately, what is being experienced in Benue state, North-Central Nigeria, will soon snow-ball into a genocide.

The individuals who are being murdered in cold-blood are some people’s relatives: fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, friends and colleagues. And the death of a loved one hurts to the bone. The other person who is hurt may take a deadly counter action if care is not taken.  

This is April. Between January and now, no fewer than 200 persons have been mowed down in different parts of Benue state alone. The state government seemed to be confused on what to do to protect the lives and property of its citizenry. And the Federal government seemed not to be showing adequate concern to the plights of the people of Benue. People are living like ghosts in parts of Benue state as we write this. 

When President Muhammadu Buhari eventually visited Benue after the hews and cries, he deflected the blame of continuous coordinated attacks on the hapless Benue farmers on the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Idris whom he said refused to heed to his directive to watch Benue closely. One would have expected Buhari to express deep frown at what the Police boss did by meting-out any punishment on him. But we were all wrong. Buhari did not even issue a query, to the best of our knowledge, to Idris. And the business continued as usual. 

Incidents around the body language of the president towards the herdsmen ravenous attacks on the armless citizens suggest conspiracy. Benue State governor, Samuel Ortom showed evidence to the world that he complained to the President when he got security reports about the January herdsmen attack. But the government did little or nothing to thwart the attack. Citizens cried out through various platforms, calling for government attention but nothing tangible was done to rescue those victims. For instance, the Rev. Father, Joseph Gor, who was murdered alongside other 17 parishioners cried out for help when he noticed untoward movement of herdsmen in his locality.  Was the voice of a priest too little to be heard or were the lives of his parishioners too insignificant? It is a pity that what Rev. Father Gor feared happened to him the same way he feared it.

Between yesterday and today, more 20 persons have been reported killed by the same herdsmen in the same Benue. They victims have been Christians in the church or going to or returning from the church. What is happening? Has the government been stretched to its limit that they cannot take any action? Or are they waiting for a full-blown war?

Whoever that is in charge of security in Nigeria should wake up; or Buhari should find a replacement for them immediately. Nobody’s position is more important than human lives. Buhari will not gain anything when he keeps the office of his allies while the souls of the people perish.

We call for immediate rejig of the security apparatus in Nigeria. All hands must be on deck to achieve this. The National Assembly and the Judiciary should exert the pressure of checks and balances on the Executive now that the chips are down. The entire security system is already flawed by indications. And the earlier Nigeria takes drastic action, the better for everyone.  

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Nigeria should deploy this $1billion to fight menacing insecurity

Buhari must ensure that the money is used for the purpose it is meant for and not for any other purpose, no matter how beautiful any other argument may seem. Nigerians and the world are watching.
Buhari must ensure that the money is used for the purpose it is meant for and not for any other purpose, no matter how beautiful any other argument may seem. Nigerians and the world are watching.

 

Nigeria should deploy this $1billion to fight menacing insecurity

 

It is interesting that Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday approved the sum $1 billion for the procurement of military hardware for the purpose of fighting insecurity in that West African country. The money is about N360 billion according to today’s Dollar to Naira exchange rate. It is interesting because if this money is deployed judiciously, it could go a long way in procuring relevant arms and ammunition needed to ward-off rampaging Boko Haram and other bourgeoning threats to security in the country.

However, the timing of the release of the fund is ominous. And this calls for fears about the sincerity of the government to use this money for the said purpose. Election time is drawing closer and there are temptations to use available money to fund election. It was about this time in the life of the Goodluck Jonathan administration that $2.2 billion was also approved for the same purpose. The now infamous $2.2 billion arms deal, for which many players in the former administration are being tried is a bad precedent which must not re-occur. $2.2 was released to the former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki to procure arms and ammunition but the money never got deployed to fight insurgency. Instead, it was shared among stakeholders for the opposite purpose of Jonathan’s re-election—which did not happen. While Soldiers danced to the macabre tune of the Boko Haram at the Sambisa forest trying to combat highly motivated terrorists with their bare hands, politicians were in Abuja and abroad sharing the slush fund meant for arms. Many Soldiers were killed mercilessly and the insurgents grew in number.

Already, some vocal politicians are already nursing some fears that this N360 billion may go the way of the Dasuki’s $2.2 billion. Governor of Ekiti State, Peter Ayodele Fayose solely voted against the approval of this $1 billion, stating that the fund will be used for Buhari’s re-election, not to fight insecurity. other members of the opposition questioned the All Progressive Congress led-government for voting N360 billion to fight Boko Haram which the government said has been defeated and are being negotiated with to grant them amnesty.

The truth which is open to everyone is that insecurity in Nigeria is still high and menacing. And chances are that the security situation may get worse as the election time draws closer. That is why it is a right move to be on the alert. On the part of the government, voting this large sum to fight insecurity which includes Boko Haram, herdsmen activities, cultism, armed robbery, militancy and other forms insecurity, is another way of telling Nigerians that insecurity is far from being over.

There is insecurity everywhere in the country. Boko Haram and herdsmen are snuffing lives out of innocent people every day. It is happening even as this is being written. Politicians, who believe that elections cannot be won on free and fair basis have stockpiled arms and procured gunmen to do hatchet jobs during the elections. The government should have a counter-response programme to guarantee the safety of the people before, during and after the 2019 election.

We believe that President Muhammadu Buhari has taken a right step to vote this money for security reasons. But the government should do more to ensure that the fears expressed by Fayose did not materialise. Buhari must ensure that the money is used for the purpose it is meant for and not for any other purpose, no matter how beautiful any other argument may seem. Nigerians and the world are watching.

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Chibok, Dapchi: It is bad to play politics with kidnapping, insecurity and death of common people

Insecurity in Nigeria
Insecurity in Nigeria

 

 

Chibok, Dapchi:  It is bad to play politics with kidnapping, insecurity and death of common people

The Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria on Media and Communications, Mallam Garba Shehu, a week a go made some startling revelation about the state of the nation and said that insecurity, which comprises the activities of the Boko Haram and herdsmen, is a creation of some politicians who want to exploit opportunities to win elections in 2019.

At the point Mallam Shehu made the remarks on a national television, the 110 schoolgirls who were kidnapped in Dapchi, Yobe State by Boko Haram were still not found, their parents and loved ones were still nursing the anguish of losing dear ones in terrible circumstances. Even a number of the schoolgirls who were kidnapped in Chibok in 2014 by same Boko Haram men were still not found. It is instructive to note that these girls who are involved in this violence are human beings who are entitled to protection by government.

On Wednesday, when the Dapchi girls were reportedly released by their captors, five of the innocent girls were said to have died and one was in a critical health condition following the conditions they were subjected to during the process. There is no gainsaying the fact that the kidnapped schoolgirls together with their family members, friends, relatives and concerned local and international bodies go through some serious trauma over the abductions, yet, flicker of information from the authorities is that some people are behind the kidnapping and sundry insecurity drama in the country.

At least 25, 000 persons have died directly as a result of activities of Boko Haram in Nigeria from 2009 and property and livelihood have been razed down too. The activities of the Fulani herdsmen are upsetting locals and farmers, especially in the Northern part of the country since 2015. The cases of Benue State, Taraba State, Plateau State, Niger State among others are quite regrettable.

The nature of the kidnap and release of the Dapchi schoolgirls is equally disturbing. The opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) called it a poorly written script and while the ruling party, the All Progressive Congress (APC) attacked the PDP for failing to appreciate the enormity of work done by the federal government in procuring release of the girls. All these arguments are coming from the highly placed while the victims are the common people. It is sad and must stop. Every human being is entitled to life no matter the state of birth.

It is ridiculous that some educated people and leaders in the country come on the national media to show support in favour of some elements who orchestrate violence like the Boko Haram and militants in Nigeria. Some people even argue a life-line for them.

Nigeria has had more than its own fair share of insecurity. It is sad when this violence could be traced by some highly placed people who live a cosy life with their families and friends while the common people are used as pawns in the game of chess to score some political goal. Whether it is true or not that these dramas are being stage-managed, it is more horrendous to imagine that humans use other humans as baits to hunt political offices. This is the height of man’s inhumanity to man and perpetrators of these dastardly acts should stop forthwith.

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Clean, safe water is a right of everyone in Africa

Water should be available to everyone
Water should be available to everyone

Clean, safe water is a right of everyone in Africa

It is again March 22 and the United Nations is once again marking the World Water Day to remind the world of the importance of water in its different uses and also advise on good water management. The theme for this year’s World Water Day is “Nature for Water”, created by the UN-Water to encourage people to “look for the answer in nature”.

Discover Africa News notes poignantly, that one nature of water is life. Water is life. As long as one wishes to have life, they wish to have water at the same scale.

But it is unfortunate that the common people, especially in Africa, do not have access to clean water. Their leaders have taken away the luxury of life as well as the necessities of life. The common people do not have access the beautiful houses, roads, quality healthcare, quality education and most unfortunately, the people do not access quality water.

In the Nigerian experience, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today issued a statement, saying that 69 million citizens do not have access to safe water and 19 million have to walk long distances to get water, adding that about 40 per cent of households do not have access to clean water sources.

UNICEF added that lack of safe drinking water contributes to stunting or shortness in the child’s development stages, an experience that is preponderant in Africa.

It is important to note that stunting is not the only problem associated with lack of safe water. Waterborne diseases like Guinea worm, Cholera, Diarrheal among others abound in Africa.

In 2017, Federal Government of Nigeria budgeted the sum of N104,245,803,11 for the Ministry of Water Resources. How did the Ministry of Water Resources utilize this budget to increase access to clean and safe water by the common man in Nigeria? We do not expect that number of people who do have access to good water in Nigeria should be as high as the figure above: “69 million citizens do not have access to safe water and 19 million have to walk long distances to get water, adding that about 40 per cent of households do not have access to clean water sources”. It is quite unfair.

We agree with UNICEF that for Nigeria to achieve the global goal of providing access to safe water for every citizen by 2030, it needs to make water, together with sanitation and hygiene, a national priority. This goal is closely linked with three key results for the country-good health, environment sustainability and economic prosperity. And this is not peculiar to Nigeria but to other African countries whose citizens cannot boast of access to good water.

UNICEF also notes that “Waterborne diseases also contribute to stunting. A stunted child is shorter than he or she could have been, and will never be able to reach his or her full cognitive potential. Lack of safe water and sanitation also make children vulnerable to other threats beyond health. Many children in rural areas spend several hours daily collecting water, missing out on the opportunity to go to school… Children without access to safe water are more likely to die in infancy and throughout childhood from water-borne diseases. African leaders should note that Diarrhoea remains the leading cause of death among children under five years of age in Nigeria”.

We challenge governments of Africa to note that water is life and it is essential that every person, every household should have easy access to clean, safe and heathy water. If the office holder can’t provide other basic things for the people who elected them to the office, please, they should provide water.

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