WHY CAN'T I BE GRATEFUL? SECURITY IS EVERYTHING: PRESIDENT BUHARI HAS LARGELY DELIVERED ON BOKO HARAM INSURGENCY IN THE LAST ONE YEAR!
WHY CAN'T I BE GRATEFUL? SECURITY IS EVERYTHING: PRESIDENT BUHARI HAS LARGELY DELIVERED ON BOKO HARAM INSURGENCY IN THE LAST ONE YEAR!
By:
Nurudeen Dauda
27th September, 2016 nurudeendauda24@yahoo.com
nurudeendauda24@yahoo.com
nurudeendauda.blogspot.com
Internally Displace Persons (IDPs) have been returning back home! Governor Kashim Shettima has relocated his office to Bama to facilitate reconstruction work due to return of peace! It now two years Sallah was celebrated without "BOMB" blasts. Sallah Durbar which was stopped for many years in so many states was celebrated all over the country without BOMB blasts. Allah is great! Thank God!
“I will score him an “A” on Security because I am from the North-east. I am from Borno State which is actually the ground zero of the entire conflict. Before President Buhari came to office, Boko Haram had 14 local governments under them, where they have hoisted their flags, held people under bondage, and security officers or private individual could not go to those areas. They were entirely under them. The federal government appeared at that time to have resigned itself to fate and Boko Haram Insurgents were looking forward to controlling some more areas. That was the situation when Buhari became the president and, in less than one year, there is not a single local government that is under them. The Boko Haram members are no longer rolling out armoured personnel carriers, tanks and or move in Toyota Hilux Pickups”-Senator Mohammed Abba Aji-Former Presidential Adviser on National Assembly matters to late President Umar Yar’adu.
If a murder of six years old by Boko Haram Insurgents could largely be reduced in one year I then have “hope” that other challenges would be attended to in the remaining three years of this administration! President Buhari throughout his campaign only promised three things to Nigerians; namely: (1) Security, (2) Anti-Corruption, and (3) Jobs. President Buhari’s campaign speeches were usually very brief then, as such; one cannot attribute some promises said to have been made to him . Hey! Security is everything!
However, no doubt other APC party “stalwarts” made a lot of “unrealizable” promises. Including the highly uneducated one of making dollar equal to Naira! The value of currency of any country is determined by its productivity not just executive directives! Ultimately, majority of Nigerians that voted against President Jonathan for president Buhari, especially the Northern “voters”, in my understanding, was because of the unprecedented killings of “Northerners” by the BOKO HARAM Insurgents which the then government seemed not to care much about or lacked the capacity to stop the “carnage “against the people perhaps due to mindless corruption of that era.
The areas that were largely heat by the Insurgency included the North-East, North-West and North-Central zones. These areas were in total “siege” and “fear” from bombings and ”Suicide” attacks in the “mosques” and “churches” on daily bases. The Boko Haram “Marauders” were killing people, capturing territories, kidnapping girls, conscripting youths to join their force with “Impunity”.
Northern Nigeria was virtually brought to its knees due to Boko Haram Insecurity; there were “BOMBS” left –Right and centre. We were under “siege”! There was “fear” going to the mosques, churches, markets, motor parks, and higher institutions of learning etc. There were roads “blocks” stationing only “soldiers” without having “modern security gadgets”. Northern Nigeria was on the “verge” of “extinction”. Kano, Kaduna and Borno states are the three major business cities of Northern Nigeria. During that period people were not going to Kano neither Borno state for business; Businesses, agriculture, cattle rearing, transportation etc., suffered serious.
Roads blocks were among the major concerns in the North; Northern Nigeria was under siege with roads blocks everywhere; all the roads blocks were removed in the first few weeks of this government. Throughout the period of the “road blocks” I could not remember any major “arrest” made in the check points; however, since after the removal of the “checks points” today nothing happens. This ultimately shows that it was just a “camouflage” in order to “loot us dry” and also “torture” our people. A journey from Kaduna to Zaria is about 35-40minutes but during that “siege era” of the Northern region it would take you about 1.30minutes to go to Zaria due to the numbers of road blocks then. From Kaduna to Zaria we had nothing less than 5 roads blocks then! Now we move freely without fear! God is great!
People who ride “motorcycles” are in better position to narrate their experiences during that “doom era”; no matter how old a man was, he must push his motorcycle when he got to a road block. The security situation made it possible for virtually all the Northern sates to ban “Okada” business. Private motorcycles riders were banned from carrying even their wives or parents or brothers.
What convinced many Northerners to vote Jonathan out of office was the sudden “zeal” he showed in fighting BOKO HARAM soon after he got Six (6) weeks extension for the 2015 General elections. Many people insinuated that the then government sensed their “defeat” on the account of their poor performance on security as such they sought for extension to enable them change the situation. A popular Hausa “musician” sang a song thus: “Adaga Ko Kar’adaga PDP Sai Mun kaita Kasa” (postponement or no postponement PDP must be defeated). BOKO HARAM Insurgents were seriously dealt with during that six (6) weeks extension. Had Jonathan government fought the BOKO HARAM Insurgents in the six (6) years of his government with the vigor he did in the six weeks period before the election he would have overran them completely. One wonders whether he cared about the lives that were being lost or not!
President Buhari campaign on three things: (1) Security (2) Anti Corruption, and (3) Jobs or Economy. Any fair examiner will score him very high in the areas of security and anti-corruption. Even on the economy one would only appreciate the president if he considers the fact that when he came 27 states out of the 37 could not pay their salaries up to date. He packaged a bailout on those states. The price of crude oil collapsed from $115 to $27 in January, 2016 but however, the price is now $44 per barrel. Militants attacks reduce production from the projected 2.2 million barrels daily to about 1.4 million barrels daily.
May God bless Nigeria!