Ignoring youth protests, social injustice, bad economy all fuel insecurity
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Islamist terrorists ushered Muhammadu Buhari into Maiduguri on Thursday with three bomb blasts. Five people were killed and others injured.
That in itself exposed the lie in the claim the same day by the Shehu of Borno, Abubakar Elkenemi, that security has improved in the state under the President.
Borno Governor Babagana Zulum, another Buhari sycophant, had also claimed in December 2020 that security had improved under the President despite killings of farmers in the state by Boko Haram terror merchants.
Between January and November this year, more than 3,125 people were killed and 2,703 abducted by Islamist Jihadists in the North.
A day before Buhari was dressed in false accolade in Maiduguri amid bomb blasts, Eminent Nigerians had warned in Abuja that insecurity would continue to rise unless the federal government addresses youth grievances, marginalisation, and lifts the economy.
Members of the group include former President Olusegun Obasanjo; the Sultan of Sokoto, Abubakar Sa’ad; Christian Association of Nigeria President Samson Ayokunle; and former Presidential Assistant Tanko Yakasai, who is aged 96.
They spoke in a communique issued at the end of a security dialogue jointly organised by the Global Peace Foundation and Vision Africa.
Other members of Eminent Nigerians who attended the meeting include
- Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) Chairman Audu Ogbeh
- ACF Secretary General Murtala Aliyu
- Northern Elders Forum spokesman Hakeem Baba-Ahmed
- Middle Belt Forum Chairman Pogu Bitrus
- Islamic cleric Abubakar Gumi
- Biafra Group representative Udeh Christian-Iwuagwu
- Ohanaeze Ndigbo Secretary General Okey Emuchay
- Former Akwa Ibom Governor Victor Attah
- Vision Africa President Sunday Onuoha
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Postponing doomsday
Eminent Nigerians warned that Nigeria would be postponing doomsday if the government continues to ignore the youth and education in national development plans, according to Vanguard.
The communique reads:
“High prevalence of insecurity in Nigeria is driven largely by social injustice and a failed economy; hence fueling continued agitation by the country’s young alienated generation. Government must act sincerely as an unbiased arbiter to address insecurity headlong.
“Hunger and starvation in the land will get worse as continued violence and insecurity make our farms unsafe for families whose basic sustenance is dependent on their yields from the farms.
“National development without a focus on youths and the education sector, and intentional intergenerational collaboration between the elite and the youth, may not augur well for our security.
“Neither will the organised movement of street children and the disabled from one part of the country to another. We postpone doomsday if it is ignored.
National reconciliation conference
“Neglect of oil exploration communities and minorities will only deepen the threat to our security and unity. Underdevelopment and isolation cannot remain the strategy, else they will be uncomfortable to remain with the concept of Nigeria.
“Government at all levels must revisit and show a sincere effort at understanding the core issues of dissidence and self-determination in Nigeria, rather than incarceration, bullets and counter-attacks as government responds to agitations and unrest.
“The role of religious leaders and pulpit managers (traditional, Christian, Islam) in our moral rearmament and collective re-engineering is urgently needed to salvage our nation.
“We must draw upon our religious traditions and our understanding of what is best for our people.
“A National Reconciliation Conference that allows the principles of fairness, equity and justice; with an immediate consideration of legitimate agitations, and a collective effort to de-escalate the conflict and violence across the nation, can no longer be ignored.
“Government, as a matter of urgency, must convene a national reconciliatory conference where we can all address the underlying issues of our challenges in order to quell the mistrust-fueled agitations and crisis before the entity called Nigeria collapses.
Constitution review
“The 1999 Constitution is oligo-military in nature and does not represent our collective interests; it needs to be renegotiated by national ethics. A constitutional review process enabling peace and social cohesion is necessary.
“We call on the government to begin a process of constitutional review in order to amend and rework it, drawing on our previous Constitutions, amongst other things, to synchronise and harmonise the laudable principles they embody.
“This will ensure not one-off solutions but lasting change.”