“At this point, I agree with Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed who called attention of America to the implications of issuing Atiku a visa at this time to mean that, as rumoured, the America’s government will have proved to Nigeria that it is taking side with one particular party and candidate in the 2019 general elections in the country. To this end, America’s claim that corruption has been bane of Nigeria’s or Africa’s backwardness would have meant nothing but cheer hypocrisy if Atiku is issued visa after the reason for his visa ban is clearly open officially to be because of corruption related offences. I will also agree with Timi Frank, opposition member who, replying to Lai Mohammed, said that Nigerians not Americans will elect Atiku. I will only correct Frank by saying Nigerians not Americans will elect the next President.”
We (I write representing popular opinions) have noted with disappointment comments from opposition political groups and their affiliates. They appear to be contented with the killing of scores of our gallant soldiers and are jubilating they now have excuse to make Nigerians listen to them as campaign for 2019 general elections commenced. This is not only appalling but highly undemocratic, unpatriotic and, more extensively, devilish.
We therefore swung into action, at our own level, investigating possible reasons for the dastardly act against military troops, who have laid their lives that Nigeria and its citizens may live in peace and then stand well on ground to develop.
In the course of our investigations we gathered varied opinions many of which pointed to why government and Nigerians should look back to recent politicking in the country and use the outcome of their retrospect to determine how they handle the incidence that befell the country through the losses that the Army had suffered.
From those findings some called out attention to the fact that a particular political party was sent out of power on grounds of corruption, confirmed officially aided insecurity, division among people across ethnic and religion lines and dilapidated infrastructure perpetually unattended to as well as high degree of impunity rubbishing the rule of law. They continued that politicians of this party started immediate, less than 24 hours after handing over power to the current ruling party and President Muhammadu Buhari, to campaign for 2019 general elections – on May 30, 2015.
Among their political tactics were unguarded utterances which – five months after that the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed announced that Nigeria had generated 5,0001 megawatts of electricity unprecedented in the history of power generation in the country – led to sudden emergence of Niger Delta Avengers which was set up mainly to sabotage that particularly feat in the electricity revolution of the Federal Government. Not only electricity generation was improved, even all the nation’s refineries were fixed and pipelines supplying crude oil were fixed to feed nation’s refineries while private owners were licenced to build more to ease petroleum consumption locally with a view to reducing pump price and all others.
Recall that during that time, not only the electricity they set out to sabotage was affected. Apart from megawatts of generated power dropping from 5,001 to 2,600 oil output that was running at 2.1 million barrel per day (BPD) had a devastating drop to 800,000 BDP and was even threatening to go further down, hence the economic recession that then became exposed even though recession had always been in the country since, particularly, the 2010 shortly after Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan took over as substantive President following the death of his boss, Alhaji Umar Musa Yar’Adua (GCFR), may Allah keep, forgive him and repose his gentle soul in Al-Jannah.
These same ousted party were the heard voice hitting the Buhari’s government at that time that under him Nigeria’s oil output dropped from 2.1 million BPD to 800,000 and that blackout was being experienced all over the country. They criticized the President saying he was weak and that the weakness was, according to them, because he has no clue about governance and that he was an old man at 72. In the meantime, Buhari had made himself clear that he would not use force against sponsored elements in Niger Delta Avengers bombing the oil installations which caused the problem the same sponsors were criticizing him for. When their noise became too much more disturbing, however, an Army Exercise was formed which permanently silenced all of the saboteurs till today. The President then declared state of emergency in the agriculture sector saying his concern was mainly to diversify the economy as, according to him, when the country’s economy no longer relaxes on oil alone, collapse in oil which is the basic source of national wealth will not run the nation down as witnessed in the recession. He then began the Ogoni Clean-up Project, despite threat by those militants sponsored by these same ousted politicians to kill him.
Although the Niger Delta Avengers activities stopped due to the military exercise President Buhari used but without causing destruction or death on the people, the recession caused by the militancy stayed with the country until almost a year after when – from international and National Bureau of Statistics assessment and confirmations – Nigeria regained its freedom finally from recession. All of these politicians went underground. Meantime, the agriculture diversification had started yielding results. The President’s performances were glaring everywhere across the country. Infrastructure deficit was being fixed, insecurity particularly in the North East was being neutralized, corruption was being tackled to its roots to the notice of the world and the economy was being laid on new, enviable and durable foundation.
The politicians had allegedly took hold of the media in ensuring that none of the good results coming from the Buhari’s government was published or broadcast to the Nigerian people. Therefore, most of the cries for hunger in the country, our latest investigations further pointed out, were not because there was no food but that the people were denied access to information to know where to go for what. They therefore hinged their hope on imported rice whereas, not only rice was already being produced in the country but also yam, cassava, plantain, cocoyam, beans, tomatoes, pepper, ginger, garlic, watermelon, cucumber to mention but few were in high production by Nigerian farmers.
Because truth is constant and will always come out no matter how much some people attempt to block it, now becoming eye-open to what they describe as the opposition/media conspiracy against them thinking they are against the Buhari/his party’s government by feeding them either with falsehood or twisted news and in most cases fake news, Nigerians took their fate to social media. That was how the war that media had always won against any sitting government began to be a lost game under Muhammadu Buhari Administration. Whereas many Buhari’s supporters got swayed by period of distorted news, due to effort of pro-Buhari activists on the social media particularly Facebook and Twitter posting not only what pro-opposition would call the imaginary but backing up their posts with pictorial and verifiable facts, those formerly on the opposition camp or on neutral grounds began to see the truth and then moved into the pro-Buhari camp and then the name Buharists Group was formed on the social media.
This development did not go down well with the ousted politicians whose opposition had gone beyond democracy. They then chose the National Assembly where they have some traitors in ruling party at that time in the person of Bukola Saraki and all his cronies as opportunity ground to launch their opposition politics, which started from June 2015 when Saraki, in displayed disobedience to his party, went and teamed up with opposition senators and Yakubu Dogara teamed up with opposition House Representatives Members to being to implement precisely the 2019 Project of the ousted party in June 2015. Among the most unguarded statement was for Ike Ekweremadu, Deputy Senate President, to three months of Buhari’s government in power say Boko Haram killed under him more than they killed under Jonathan.
When, due to social media activities of the pro-Buhari Nigerians who “in all honesty” claimed to be largely pro-Nigeria patriots, the opposition knew their tactics were yielding no good results, Saraki and Dogara resorted to blocking Executive Bills of the President including the two Anti-Corruption Bills sent to Senate since December 2015 which Saraki refused to let open till present and Police Reforms Bills and others. They frustrated confirmation of Buhari’s nomination for Chairmanship of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (CP Ibrahim Mustapha Magu), made frantic effort to get Buhari remove the Comptroller General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali (Rtd) on the excuse of not wearing Customs uniform whereas what they were fighting him for was, in truth, Ali’s disruption of their Business as Usual bothering largely on SMUGGLING and official wrecklessness at enforcement of laws. They did more.
When that failed, then those traitors of ruling party including Senator Dino Melaye began to cause some political unrest in their respective states, which was what happened in Kogi State. Yes, Governor Yahaya Bello may have his own problems, but Dino Melaye has been the major brewer of the insecurity that Kogi State had witnessed. Recall how he raised false alarm to the police over an attempted assassination. If not under responsible government like Buhari’s, Melaye would have caused death and jails for many innocent people in area where he has influence. But Police discovered that the Senator masterminded his own assassination and only wanted to push it over to implicate the Governor he had issues against.
Many journalists and lawyers who believed the “rascally” senator were later to know that the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) told no lies with the man they cherished so much now beginning to display more shameful acts like, after he had allegedly sponsored some particularly killings leading to death of 24 people in one day in Kogi only for him to rush to the floor of the Senate and screamed to his paymaster (Saraki) that Fulani herdsmen had entered his state killing people. In reacting to that, senators like Ekweremadu made treasonable statements calling for military overthrow of government. Ike however denied he ever did after it became dawn on him and his co-travellers in the Senate that the method they used to stop the government was firing back at them in big way and the military had hit them back too saying “we are not interested in running government” but that they were loyal to the sitting President in power. The moment Police swung into action and arrested five criminals who later confessed to be responsible for the killing that Melaye called Fulani herdsmen killing, issue of herdsmen killing suddenly stopped to rear its head in Kogi State till today.
Then, Offa Bank Robbery incident followed killing over 33 people including 11 police officers and a pregnant woman. Saraki was the first person to visit Offa Palace where he made utterances criticizing insecurity in the country as lack of capacity on the party of the government, third arm of which he controls. The moment Police arrested the robbers, with all evidences showing they were truly the robbers who robbed the Offa bank killing those people, the first news Nigerians heard about it was from Saraki who raised alarm that the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Alhaji Ibrahim Kpotun Idris was planning to link him with one crime and another. Police did just react to Saraki but came out in form of parade of the arrested robbers who eventually clearly without duress told the story of their links with the screaming Senate President.
No one should lose sight of the fact that earlier before then, some cultists arrested for killing innocent Nigerians in Kwara, Ekiti, Kogi environs transferred to Abuja had sparked controversies due to the same Saraki raising alarm. What has become known without doubt is that, these ousted politicians, each time they screamed against the Police, one or two of their evil practices and dealings have intercepted and being investigated. They then raise false alarm in order to distract the Police. This tactics also has always failed.
The New Year eve of 2017/2018 killings in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Benue State and Kwara State were not out of this same plot, now clearly exposed to be the politicians’ known way of tagging sitting government as evil in order for vulnerable masses to join them in pushing out the government. They are today claiming they helped install Buhari as President. If what they call help used against Jonathan, their own party man, is what we now see today in form of the killings plus the later killings in Taraba and Plateau, then “NOW WE KNOW”. But, these disgruntled politicians may wish to know that if they succeeded before using this “plot of killings to win election for whoever they think will help their selfish course”, they have failed now because it won’t work against Buhari.
That was how it has happened since May 30, 2015 till now that from Niger Delta Avengers, Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), so-called herdsmen that is in actual fact respective states sponsored militia killings to now the misfortune of our collectiveness resulting from the killing of our gallant soldiers due to irresponsible disclosure of sensitive information by Allah knows how many of them, there has always been suspicion these opposition politicians have hands in each and every such misfortune. Their politicization of these national calamity like they have always done cannot be far from convincing any sane person, locally or internationally, they have hands in it.
Imagine that their Presidential Candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, who had subjected himself to security search at United Arab Emirate’s Airport, would have made huge noise about him being asked to do same albeit with full compliments in his country’s airport. Recall the level his party had gone in using the media to drive home this “disregard to national security and Constitution” by some politicians telling Nigerians to let them return to where they were sent out form official wrecklessness. Imagine Atiku, now the hope of the opposition, screaming to all heavens when two global banking firms that had been indicted for flaunting Nigeria’s banking rules closed down and moved out of the country. Imagine how Atiku, who has never made positive contribution to the government of Buhari that he claims to have funded his campaign in 2015, had publicly said soldiers, who were killed because they were ambushed due to suspected betrayal – not far from mole within the military conspiring with same opposition politicians – saying they were killed because they were not properly equipped and funded.
My consolation is hinged on the fact that no matter how much they go with these politicization of National Security, Muhammadu Buhari will still defeat them in 2019. Not even their effort to use a lobbyist to get United States of America issue their Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar, a visa to enter the country, after long time he had been banned from doing so, will be of any help.
At this point, I agree with Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed who called attention of America to the implications of issuing Atiku a visa at this time to mean that, as rumoured, the America’s government will have proved to Nigeria that it is taking side with one particular party and candidate in the 2019 general elections in the country. To this end, America’s claim that corruption has been bane of Nigeria’s or Africa’s backwardness would have meant nothing but cheer hypocrisy if Atiku is issued visa after the reason for his visa ban is clearly open officially to be because of corruption related offences. I will also agree with Timi Frank, opposition member who, replying to Lai Mohammed, said that Nigerians not Americans will elect Atiku. I will only correct Frank by saying Nigerians not Americans will elect the next President.
