By Kabiru Dalha
On Wednesday, 12th February, 2020, Mr President visited Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State. He was there to commiserate with the people and government of Borno State on the unfortunate attack of Boko Haram at a motor park in Auno.The Boko Haram boys burnt passengers alive who were boarding to various destinations, they also burnt many vehicles and properties worth millions of naira. Even though the BH boys of recent, attacked almost on a daily basis, but this particular one was somehow a kind of unique one and dangerously different from the usual ones. The attack was said to have been carried out in a broad daylight.
The gruesome attack was the reason for the President visit to Maiduguri. The President was coming back from Ethiopia and went straight to Maiduguri to commiserate with them. It was really a good effort.
The same day, the social media was a washed with a video clip that the President was booed in Maiduguri during the visit. The following day, this piece of news became the headlines of almost all the newspapers in the country.
The second news was that of an attack that was carried out by BH immediately after the departure of the President, and even the of a release from Shekau that should the President visit Maiduguri again, the BH boys will attack him.
I am disturbed and worried for these two terribly damaging reports. Let us take the two items separately,.
- President Booed in Maiduguri:
This piece of news is as disturbing as it is shocking. Remember, Borno State gave President Muhammadu Buhari the highest votes in terms of #PERCENTAGE in the recently 2019 presidential elections, so for them to boo the same person they massively elected in less than a year is indeed very shocking, disturbing and worrisome. Even though the Presidential spokesperson later on did some damage control, but he himself confirmed that it happened. Now the point is not whether it was opposition that sponsored it or not, no! The point is, why should it happened in the first place. We must find the answer to this very question before we start to deny or unnecessarily argue over whether it is opposition or not.
Three to four years back, I can bet with my life that no opposition born of his mother can dare try to organize such a thing to our PMB. None! So why now? What went wrong or what is going wrong? Where is the missing link? We should really find some answers that can help us to unravel whatever it is, so as help PMB and his government for a better Nigeria. It is not an issue of denial by the Presidency or not, but the issue is, we must understand that something somewhere went wrong or is going wrong, and we must find it and correct it so as to prevent a looming disaster.
I am a core Buharist, and I am still one, but what happened in Maiduguri is something that must worry all of our types across the country. We must face it and tell ourselves the home truth. The Security apparatus are failing, and people no longer feel secured. Many of the indices of the security failure of the former government are rearing their heads now, and these must be tackled and nipped in the bud before it got worse. May Allah give my President the courage to tackle this menace at once, Amin ya rabbi.
- BH attack immediately after the President departure and Shekau’s warning to President:
You can just imagine the Shekau that was killed several times has now resurrected and start warning the Commander in Chief. This like the issue no. 1 is also too shocking to absorb. I could remember this was how the former government insecurity started, where common criminals continued to warn the President to such extent that the President could not place his legs in Maiduguri, because of such types of those useless threats.
I don’t expect PMB to bother about this useless threat of Shekau, but the fact that the BH boys could now gather this momentum and have the courage to attack immediately after a Presidential visit and even issue the threat, says a lot about the security situation of Maiduguri and environment. And indeed it calls for a serious restructuring and different approach and strategies to the security issues of the Northeast in general and Maiduguri in particular. These issues must be fully and responsibly address with an immediate clear results if the government wants to be taken seriously.
In conclusion, I would like to say we should not always politicize issues, but rather we must identify the areas of serious concerns and address them. We all worked and voted for PMB believing that he was the right person for the job, he was the right person to address all these security threats, and we still didn’t change that believe, but I think people around him and the politics going around are not helping matters, and the earlier these are realized the better for all of us. Let’s all put all hands on deck for the success of the government that we worked so hard to install. We are just not ready for failure!
I AM REALLY DISTURBED AND WORRIED!
May almighty Allah save Us from Us.
May We succeed together, Amin ya rabbi.
Kabir Dalha Kabir
A CONCERNED BUHARIST.
