Afenifere Leader, Chief Ayo Adebanjo
Afenifere has said that the frequent attacks by terrorists, bandits and kidnappers on harmless Nigerians have shown that President Muhammadu Buhari is not sincere in the war against insecurity.
While condemning the Wednesday’s fresh attack on Owo, Ondo State by some gunmen, the Yoruba sociopolitical organisation said that despite the worsening insecurity in the country and the collapse of the naira as well as excruciating poverty, the President’s ministers had kept telling Nigerians that all was well with the country.
The group, in a statement on Thursday by its National Publicity Secretary, Jare Ajayi, described the president’s aides as deceitful.
Also, it criticised the President of the Senate, Ahmed Lawan, for allegedly preventing senators from discussing the frightening insecurity in the country and the notice of impeachment which the lawmakers wanted to debate on on Wednesday.
It said it was unfortunate that Buhari was always unaware of the situation in the country and that he was not aware of the threats by terrorists to kidnap him.
According to the statement: “The Minister of Information, Lai Muhammed, described the threat by terrorists to kidnap President Buhari and Governor Nasir el-Rufai as laughable while his counterpart in the Ministry of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, said that Nigerian economy was doing very well, far better than under the previous administrations.
“With all that has happened and several others, those in the corridors of power are dubbing those calling for effective action as wailers.
“Some of them, like the Senate President and Presidential spokespersons, seem to be of the view that if the matter is not talked about, it will fade away. But a thing of this type does not fade away in that manner.
“Rather, it would fester until it consumes virtually everybody including those who ought to act at the appropriate time but failed woefully to do so.
“In any case, we in Afenifere, do not take the threats by the kidnappers, bandits and terrorists lightly. What with another deadly attack that happened in Owo, Ondo State, on Wednesday, July 27th, barely seven weeks after the gruesome attack on St Francis Catholic Church in the same town.
“We in Afenifere, in strong terms, condemn this new attack as we did the previous time. It is seen as a provocation that can no longer be accepted.”
Ajayi said the inability of the military to curb insecurity could not be blamed on lack of funding because the budgetary allocation to the army, the air force and the navy had been on the increase since 2016.
He said the belief by some that the government was allowing the insecurity to fester so that the 2023 general elections might not hold could be true after all.
His words: “We are asking these questions because, among others, funding cannot be an excuse. For instance, the amount of money allocated to the three arms of the forces in 2016 and 2022 respectively are as follows: The Army in 2016 was given N148 billion. In 2022, it was N579 billion. The Navy in 2016 got N86b; in 2022, it was N148b. The Air Force in 2016 got N91bn while in 2022, it got N180bn.
“In view of the lackadaisical manner government is handling security situation, in view of seeming collaboration between some within the government and the bandits and in view of the clear refusal of the President to marshal the desired political will to deal with the security situation, it is becoming difficult not to give some ears to those insinuating that all these things are geared towards making the forthcoming 2023 general election unfeasible.
“We call on the President to wake up to reality. Delegate powers. Summon the necessary political will. Stop the kid-glove treatment being given to kidnappers and bandits and allow states that are willing to establish their own police forces.”
The Punch
