Barometer
PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari shocked his countrymen on January 28, 2020 when he expressed shock over the deteriorating security situation in the country. His frank admission came when he received a delegation from Niger State, a state overwhelmed by banditry, kidnapping and other forms of criminality. Said the president: “I was taken aback by what is happening in the North West and other parts of the country. During our campaigns, we knew about the Boko Haram. What is coming now is surprising. It is not ethnicity or religion, rather it is one evil plan against the country. We have to be harder on them. One of the responsibilities of government is to provide security. If we don’t secure the country, we will not be able to manage the economy properly.”
That the president made that shocking statement is not in doubt. What has puzzled Nigerians is whether his statement came across wrongly as a result of his insufficiency in English language, or as a result of reading sexed-up intelligence reports from the security agencies. Perhaps he meant to explain that he was disturbed or appalled by the rising cases of criminality in many parts of Nigeria, especially given the fact that hardly any part of the country is spared. The crime statistics of Nigeria should numb the best of presidents, let alone one who has seemed detached from the reality experienced by his countrymen on a daily basis.
The president’s statement coincided with the disgust expressed by the Nigerian parliament about the government’s ineffective response to rising crime statistics. So, the president is shocked? Well, then, let him do something about it, not just whine and then sink back into the anonymity many of his opponents and critics have located him in the past few years.
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