ACF to Buhari: “We have a duty to tell the president what he needs to hear, which is that the patience of Nigerians is not limitless.”
By Ishaya Ibrahim, News Editor
The apex Northern socio-cultural organization, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), on Monday took very strong exception to what it described as President Muhammadu Buhari’s ineffectual handling of the country’s plethora of security crises.
ACF said Nigeria, under Buhari’s watch, was rapidly descending into strife, violence and lawlessness.
Insisting that it will no longer indulge the president by telling him only things he wanted to hear, the pan Northern organisation said Nigeria’s descent into the abyss was at an intolerable point, and warned Buhari that “the patience of Nigerians is not limitless.”
ACF said the vast amount of money and other resources being pumped into the security agencies have largely been ineffective.
Lamenting what it called utter frustration among the broad masses of Nigeria, especially in the North, ACF said the “dangerous escalation of violence and bloodshed,” can no longer be tolerated.
The Forum’s position was contained in a statement signed by Murtala M. Aliyu, the Secretary General.
ACF observed that in other countries, the Kuje jail attack and similar ones that have happened in parts of Nigeria would have led to massive reshuffle, resignations and possibly prosecutions of officials that were negligent, incompetent or plainly untrustworthy.
The statement read in parts: “Over the past few months, the security crises we face in Nigeria has been deepening and there is a dangerous escalation of violence and bloodshed. Criminal gangs, heavily armed bandits, armed robbers, secessionist insurgents along with those that call themselves soldiers of so-called Caliphate, have laid siege to Nigeria. More so in the Northern states.
“The highly coordinated attack on the Kuje Prison in the Federal Capital, Abuja, on the 5th of July, 2022, and the mass escape of hardened criminals many of whom are Boko Haram terrorists, have triggered an unprecedented wave of apprehension and panic among the long-suffering people, particularly of the North.
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“Coming around the time the advance convoy of Mr. President heading to Daura and long after the deadly attack on the Abuja-Kaduna train on the 28th of March, 2022, in which many people were killed and a lot more kidnapped, the question on the lips of the public, is how and where will these crises, which are unprecedented in severity, leave us?
“We noted that the response of President Muhammadu Buhari to the Kuje Prison tragedy in particular was to offer the familiar cocktail of platitudes, of sermons, condemnations and yet more sermons. As usual, the president asked the security services to ‘investigate’ the outbreak and find out what led to it. Presumably, in the view of the President, that was all that he was expected or required to do in the circumstances.
“Although we count ourselves amongst his ardent supporters and have always wished him well, Nigeria’s rapid descent into strife, violence and lawlessness is getting to a point at which we can no longer afford to tell him only that which he wants to hear. We do need tell the president what he also needs to hear.
“We simply are unable to find any courteous or less painful words to describe the feeling of utter frustration among the broad masses of Nigeria, especially in the North, arising from the ineffectual management of the security crises by the President.
“The President in his Sallah message promised to deal with the situation before the end of his tenure. However, as long as the crises remains unabating, Nigerians will justifiably conclude that the government is ineffective and needs to do more if they will ever be able to quell the crises.
“Probably because President Buhari is unable or unwilling to hold his appointees responsible for any deterioration of the security situation and some other socioeconomic sectors under their watch, the vast amount of money and other resources being pumped into the security agencies have largely been ineffective.
“The required boost in manpower and equipment, long recognized as the missing link in the current campaign, have remained largely unimplemented to the required level needed to secure the nation.
“In other countries, the Kuje jail attack and similar ones that have happened in parts of Nigeria would have led to massive reshuffle, resignations and possibly prosecutions of officials that are negligent, incompetent or plainly untrustworthy.
“No person other than the President has both the mandate and responsibility to ensure that the government of Nigeria maintains peace, security, order and good governance. We demand that President Buhari braces up without further delay and rise to today’s occasion. The regime needs to reprioritize its programs and free more resources needed to end the pervasive insecurity that is bringing the country to its knees.
“We have a duty to tell the president what he needs to hear, which is that the patience of Nigerians is not limitless.”
