One of the oft-repeated demands of Nigerians is that President Muhammadu Buhari should talk to them. Most of the time, the president hardly pays heed to such expectations except on occasions he chooses to speak at any Diaspora platform during visits abroad.
The president’s recent interview on the local Arise TV doused the yearnings by many Nigerians for him to speak directly on burning national issues. He deserves kudos for hearkening to the calls.
However, the interview threw up a lot of issues, the most important of which is the insecurity in the land.
Every part of the country has suffered spiralling violence exemplified in the Boko Haram insurgency; cattle herder/farmer clashes; banditry and kidnap-for-ransom; and separatists’ violent activities.
For instance, in response to a question on insecurity, President Buhari simply narrated how he sent two governors, who came to complain to him back to base to deal with the situation of insecurity in their domains.
The president said: “Two South-west governors came to me to say cattle rearers are destroying farms in their states. I asked them what happened to the grassroots security panels from traditional rulers to local governments, who meet regularly to identify the root of their problems and identify crooks within their environment. Who destroyed this system? Go back and fix it, give your people a sense of belonging. I don’t like it when people campaign to become governors and people trusted them with their votes and after winning, they can’t perform; they’re trying to push responsibilities to others.”
While it is in order to challenge governors to ensure peaceful co-existence in their states, it amounts to passing the buck, when the “the crooks” to be apprehended are in fact from another environment beyond the reach of the governors.
Though governors are purported to be chief security officers of their states, they exercise no authority over the police or army thus making them commanders without troops.
Ironically, the president believes that the atrocious acts attributed to the local cattle herders were being perpetrated by foreign elements from Mauritania, Senegal, etc. Whose responsibility is it then to secure the country’s borders against intrusion? The states don’t have borders so it is not the duty of governors; they can only mind their boundaries.
The two South-west governors that the president’s challenged to take take responsibility for securing their states could be Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (Ondo) and Seyi Makinde (Oyo). The statements the governors made apparently after their meetings, which the president referred to, suggested that they were not satisfied.
In an instance, Makinde had asked the president to grant permission to the state government to arm local vigilantes with AK47 rifles to effectively curb the menace of bandits and kidnappers. Akeredolu’s order for cattle rearers to vacate Ekiti forest reserve generated so much controversy. The order was provoked by the horrible acts being perpetrated by suspected Fulani bandits in Ondo State.
Meanwhile, suspected Fulani bandits unleashed mayhem on Igangan in Oyo State recently, in a reprisal attack that left no fewer than 15 people dead and many buildings and other property set ablaze. It was the mindless attacks and kidnapping of indigenous people in Oyo communities that threw up Sunday Igboho and other Yoruba nationalists now clamouring for a separate republic for the Yoruba.
It is in response to the president’s posture on insecurity that prompted the Sokoto Governor, Waziri Tambuwal to advise him last week not to abdicate his responsibility.
Taking a swipe at the president while addressing a gathering of youths under the aegis of the National Youths Council of Nigeria (NYCN), on the occasion of the 2021 Democracy Day celebration at the International Conference Centre, Kasarawa, Sokoto, Governor Waziri Tambuwal, who is the chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party Governors’ Forum (PDP GF) and vice chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), reminded Buhari that the issue of security is on the exclusive legislative list of the Federal Government, as enshrined in the country’s constitution.
He explained that governors cannot even give directives to the Garrison Commander, Director SSS, or any commander in the paramilitary forces without them first getting clearance from Abuja, and the bosses they report to must in turn report to the president, who is the Commander-in-Chief as stipulated by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Invariably, Mr President must secure Nigeria and Nigerians.
Tambuwal urged the president to address the prevailing security challenges in the country, saying as governors, they are ready to support whatever efforts of the Federal Government to restore law and order in the country.
“All the governors are working tirelessly towards complimenting him (the president), the service chiefs, and the service personnel that are on ground,” Tambuwal noted.
We support the governors on this position. Besides being the only one vested with the authority by the Constitution to order the use of arms, the president has the responsibility to maintain cordiality among all segments of the population.
This underscores the urgent need to dissect and redress many fault lines in this country. Ironically, it is the same president who is passing the buck that has shown he is not disposed to power devolution, which, for instance, would allow for state police.
There is no other route to Nigeria’s survival as a country except the security of lives and property, as well as a harmonious relationship among all ethnic groups in the country. That is the urgent need of the hour and the buck stops on the president’s desk.
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