By Ikechukwu Okaforadi
The Director General of Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), Salihu Moh Lukman, has said that those who are opposing and criticising President Muhammadu Buhari and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) administration, over the worsening insecurity across the country, have no alternative to solve the problem.
In a statement issued yesterday by the DG, titled ‘Narrow Politics and Questions of Democratic Development’, he said “… in August 2021, reported incidences of killings in Plateau State, bandit attacks of Nigeria Defence Academy (NDA), continued activities of bandits in Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna and Niger States, Boko Haram – ISWAP clashes and many other criminal activities across the country have dominated national discourses.
“No doubt these are challenges, which require decisive responses from the government. The occurrence and recurrence of these incidences, resulting in loss of lives and property are frightening, which has generated all manner of headlines.
“Politics, which is supposed to provide options to citizens in terms of how to tackle these challenges, unfortunately, there is hardly any option, especially in terms of opposition to APC and its government.”
He lamented the damaging commentaries of failure of political leaders, parties and governments, especially President Buhari and the governing APC in the public space, saying some unsubstantiated and meaningless allegations dominate political debates in the country, without any specific proposal on how to resolve national challenges.
Be said “Maybe anger has taken the best out of people opposed to the APC and its government to the extent that presentations are reduced to amplifying challenges to demonstrate failure of APC and President Buhari.
“Wild goose campaign against ‘fulanisation’ and ‘islamisation’ as Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue would insist or allegations that government, including the presidency are the sponsors of Boko Haram and bandits as Commodore (Rtd) Kunle Olawunmi would want Nigerians to believe are part of major highlight of the campaign by political opposition in the country.
“Sensationally, both Governor Ortom and Commodore Olawunmi argued that they have evidence to prove their allegations. Coincidentally, not too long, sometime in September 2020, Dr. Obadiah Mailafia, former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria similarly alleged that a serving Northern Governor is the sponsor of Boko Haram.
“Although while making the allegations, he also claimed to have proof, after interrogation by the security, Dr. Mailafia was reported to backtracked, saying that he ‘did not really mean to say that the government was part and parcel of the killings.’ Since Commodore Olawumni has already began meeting with the security, hopefully the details of his evidence will come out.
“On the part of Governor Ortom, he claimed that he had forwarded his evidence to President Buhari and security agencies in the country. But since he feels so strong as to go public with his allegation without waiting for both President Buhari and security agencies to handle the matter, he can as well make the evidence public since he has lost confidence in established processes of managing matters of national security.”
He said part of the challenge with Nigerian politics is that accountability is almost zero, as people could say whatever they want and get away with it. This, he said has entrenched the phenomena whereby the main strategy of so-called opposition to APC is to ‘forcibly silence’ everyone into believing that President Buhari and APC governments have failed.
Lukman lamented that even leaders such as Governor Ortom whose constitutional powers to mobilise responses towards resolving challenges, no matter how small, as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution as amended, have become a leading campaigner against what they consider ‘fulanisation’ and ‘islamisation’ agenda.
According to him, as far as Governor Ortom is concerned, anybody arguing differently must be a supporter of ‘fulanisation’ and ‘islamisation’ agenda in the country, which according to him is the continuation of the early 19th Century Fulani Jihad of Usman Danfodio.
