Killings: Buhari Cannot Ignore Negative Public Opinion

BY COBHAM NSA
Unarguably, President Muhammadu Buhari cannot let off the steam in his tenacity to convince Nigerians that his administration’s is non-complicit in the on-going killings in the country.

Daily, the President is striving hard to expand the frontiers of pleading for greater understanding among Nigerians and swaying public opinion about the government and its so-called working hard to tackle the carnage that remains a dark and painful blight in his Presidency.

And he could not have gotten a better audience and platform than the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) branches from 19 Northern States and the FCT that visited him at the Presidential Villa, Abuja recently.

Without mincing words, the President again embarked on the usual characteristic song of reiterating the Federal Government’s position that the killings are ‘wicked, condemnable and completely unacceptable acts’. He told the CAN leaders that stopping the dastardly acts remains a ‘collective effort’ and solicited their support in bringing to an end the spate of killings in the Middle Belt, Zamfara and Taraba states.

Unrelenting in detailing efforts by the security agencies; and the hundreds of arrests made against the slowness of the judicial process in convicting the suspects, the President described as ‘satanic’ any suggestion that he is unsympathetic and unperturbed about the unending bloodbaths.

Though one has to agree with Mr President that Nigerians must “all rise as one to condemn these vile and wicked acts to ensure that all the culprits are brought to justice”, his seeming refusal to look inwards and rejig the nation’s security architecture and personnel remain a blot in his administration’s efforts at securing the lives and property of Nigerians.

That innocent Nigerians are being killed with the government seemingly looking the other way and helpless has done little to boost the image and capacity of the Buhari Presidency to protect the citizenry and make the country safe for everyone.

With lots of discussions still on-going concerning the religious and ethnic composition as well as competence of the top echelon of Nigeria’s security agencies, the President cannot pretend and continue to behave as if the views being expressed in the public space do not matter. Indeed, Nigeria witnessed competent and reliable individuals manning these offices before the present occupants emerged on the scene, so it is most unfortunate that despite current unhealthy security situations in the country, the Presidency is behaving as if there are no other capable hands in the land to do a good and better job than those currently serving in various offices.

Going by the allegations and accusations of bias, double speak, insensitivity and incompetence leveled against top government and security officials, social commentators are not to blame for their insistence that it is difficult to trust or believe the Presidency when all it does is ‘talk about bringing to book perpetrators of these dastardly acts’ without decisive and concrete action to back up the pledge.

So with President Buhari delivering the oft repeated lines to the CAN delegation that; “We owe it to the memory of those who lost their lives in the violence in Plateau, Benue, Nasarawa, Taraba, Zamfara and elsewhere since 1999 to bring the conflicts to a decisive end”, his critics have continued to laugh it off as a huge joke and cheap rendition in the march towards 2019 general elections.

Indeed, opponents of the government have every reason doubt and consider it another tall story assurances from the President that his administration will ensure the ‘culprits are brought to justice’.

If in their opposition days, the All Progressives Congress (APC) tagged the then Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Goodluck Jonathan’s Presidency as ‘clueless and directionless’ over insecurity and other challenging issues in the polity, should President Buhari and his men Friday honestly feel angry now that things are going awry under their watch? That critics are deploying the same ‘clueless and directionless’ phrase on the Buhari Presidency due to the spate of unresolved killings and sufferings in the country is a wake-up call for the APC-led government to do the needful, rather than taking the ignoble path of engaging in comparative analysis of killings and deaths under past and current administrations in the country.

Suggestions that President Buhari has not only instituted wide-spread poverty in the country, but is also running an administration that freely distributes ‘deaths; killings; disillusionment; misery; hopelessness; and sadness’ among the citizenry, cannot and must not be brushed aside with a wave of the hand. The sycophants can always have their say, but ask the opinion of President’s trusted friend and ally, Octogenarian Professor Tam David-West and the truth would be laid bare.

Most regrettably, the gains made by government in decimating Boko Haram terrorists and fighting corruption are being eroded and rubbished by its inability to stop the senseless killings of innocent Nigerians across the country, particularly in the Middle Belt, Taraba and Zamfara states, among other places.

In the current state of insecurity, the fancy promise of delivering to Nigerians democracy dividends is uninspiring because the honest expectation of ordinary citizens from government is the security of their lives and property. Sadly, the Buhari administration, (whether its supporters accept it or not), has been unable to fully deliver on this very important constitutional responsibility to the citizens.

With demonstrable inaction and apparent prejudices of the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris in addressing disturbing killings within the polity, many are already laughing off the President’s now popular lines that; “I came to office vowing to ensure the protection of lives and property, and I remain committed to this despite the challenges we have experienced.”

Truth be told, even die-hard supporters of Mr. President cannot deny the worrying fact that comments by some elements in government have tended to lend credence to arguments in public space that some lives are more important than others.

It is not just enough for government to talk about and dwell on the number of arrests made; cases prosecuted; and convictions achieved. More so, the Buhari government must not just stop at condemning these ‘vile and wicked acts’. What Nigerians want to see is an immediate end to these senseless killings and wanton destruction of property in the country.

As with the case of government’s anti-corruption war in which the President recently signed an executive order, the time is now for him to also demonstrate candour, equity and statecraft by declaring a State of Emergency in the nation’s security sector.
Indeed, enough is enough!