By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Muhammadu Buhari has pledged to tackle insecurity, seeking the help of lawmakers in the battle, even as he refuses to rein in Islamist jihadists in the North and instead vigorously pursues agitators in the South and gloats about it on national television.
Banditry is rife every inch in the core North where Islamists do not want people to go to school and kidnap for ransom children who walk the jihadists’ gauntlet of hate.
Women and babies are being abducted in hospitals. As well as emirs in palaces.
Yet – just as Nero fiddled while Rome burned – Buhari engages in platitudes and distractions in pursuit of red herrings despite having the military capability to arrest, prosecute, jail, and stop the criminals occupying his backyard in the North.
Buhari pampers and defends murderous Islamists.
He sends out fellow Fulani bigots to defend murderers who brazenly demand millions of naira in ransom. One of Buhari’s emissaries, Ahmad Gumi, an Islamic cleric, insists the criminals are aggrieved and need to be appeased.
Jihadists are part of Buhari’s tools for his Fulani supremacist agenda – and that of a good chunk of the Northern elite who delights in impoverishing and oppressing the vast legion of Almajiris and Talakawas bursting at the seams all over the North.
Yet Buhari hosted National Assembly (NASS) members to dinner and – in his usual platitudinous trope – told them he will do everything within his power to end insecurity and prosecute perpetrators of criminal activities.
The dinner was held at State House Conference Centre in Abuja where he reiterated that ‘‘insecurity, manifesting as insurgencies, banditry, kidnapping and urban crime of all sorts is the single most difficult challenge we face today.’’
Buhari in déjà vu narrative
Buhari lamented that insecurity inhibits the government’s ability to build infrastructure, provide, social services, and attract investment that drives innovation, creates industries, jobs, and wealth.
‘‘Some of the people who perpetrate these various manifestations of insecurity do so for profit, others, in the name of discredited ideologies.
‘‘Whatever their motivations may be, their actions are an existential threat to our country,” he said.
‘‘In the circumstances, we must do everything within our power, without consideration of distractions, to put an end to their activities and bring them to book.
‘‘We cannot allow ourselves to be distracted from this objective, or waver in our commitment, and I am confident that together we will triumph in our present efforts.”
Commends lawmakers
Buhari commended NASS members for discharging their duties with maturity and competence, describing the legislature as ‘‘full partners in national development.’’
He also applauded the minority parties in the legislature for their cooperation and support for government programmes.
‘‘Our ability to govern in the best interests of the Nigerian people depends to a great deal on effective collaboration and partnership between the Legislature and the Executive.
‘‘The obligation to check and balance each other is not an invitation to conflict, and it should not be characterised by quarrelsome disagreement when consultation, engagements and compromise have proven time and again to be a more effective approach.
‘‘In the 9th Assembly, you have distinguished yourselves by your conduct in office, by the scale and quality of your legislative interventions, and by your capacity for engaging with the difficult questions facing the country with maturity and competence.”
He listed legislative accomplishments to include
· Returning budget cycle to January to December
· Amendment of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA)
· Amendment of the Nigeria Police Act
· Amendment of the Finance Act
· Amendment of Deep Offshore Production Sharing Contract Act
He commended the NASS leadership under Senate President Ahmad Lawan and House of Representatives Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila for their dedication through challenging times.
‘‘You have also overcome the political and other obstacles that have, for two decades, inhibited the much-needed reforms of our oil and gas industry, resulting now in the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).
‘‘I congratulate you all, and thank you for your contributions to the difficult, yet necessary task of nation-building.’’
Speaks of significant challenges
Buhari noted that the executive and legislature came into office at a time of significant challenges for the country.
‘‘Overcoming these challenges require that we finally confront long-ignored questions of economics, politics, law and history that are often at the root of our national problems.
‘‘This moment in history requires us to make hard choices, take difficult decisions and act with diligence and patriotism to ensure that our country can survive and thrive long after we have all left.
‘‘What this means in effect is that our jobs will not get any easier. However, the objectives we seek and will work together to achieve, deserve our best efforts regardless of the sacrifice.”
Buhari noted – as the second legislative year of the ninth NASS has just ended – that it is appropriate to jointly review shared commitments, to identify what has been achieved, and what is still left undone.
‘‘This way, we can prioritise activities and allocate the resources necessary to ensure that in the lifetime of this Assembly, and of the administration, we can complete the work we have started, and leave behind a record of achievement that will stand all of us in good stead in the assessment of history.”
He sought continued collaboration and partnership between the executive and legislative arms of government, working together to achieve a shared vision of a peaceful and prosperous country.