The pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to sack all the security chiefs over their failure to stem the rising wave of security challenges facing the nation, saying scolding and telling them that their “best was not enough” was in itself a mark of indecision and failure of presidential leadership.
“Patriotic Nigerians have shouted hoarse over the years that there was no reason to keep these people in office except for personal power consideration…Now that the whole world is lamenting the insecurity in Nigeria, will the president do the needful beyond scolding his ineffective chiefs?” Afenifere asked in a statement yesterday, by its spokesman, Yinka Odumakin.
Odumakin was reacting to media reports that Buhari had scolded the security chiefs during a security council meeting, warning that he would no longer tolerate any further excuses for the deteriorating security situation in the country; and pointedly telling the security chiefs that they are failing in their responsibility to protect the security and welfare of the Nigerian people.
But even as the president moved to restore public confidence in his administration’s capability to guarantee the security of the population in the wake of rising insecurity that provoked widespread demonstrations in the president’s home state of Katsina, Afenifere said, it was indeed unfortunate that it had to take street protests in his home state for the president to realize his security chiefs are failures; saying if Buhari cannot muster the character and courage of his convictions to replace the military top brass, then he has no business being the president of Nigeria, and should resign, Odumakin said.
Likewise, the apex socio-cultural group of the Niger Delta region, Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), also called on the president to sack all the service chiefs. PANDEF, in a statement by its national publicity secretary, Hon. Ken Robinson, said reprimanding the security chiefs over their failures was not enough; as it only betrayed Buhari’s failure and indecisiveness to frontally attack the nation’s security challenges.
“We, therefore, call on President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently replace the service chiefs, in the best interest of the country. The present service chiefs cannot do more than they are currently doing, and their best would never be good enough. They have outlived their usefulness; some of whom Mr. President extended their tenures,” PANDEF stated.
According to the group, Buhari’s meeting with the service chiefs should have been a valedictory meeting for them. “The government and security agencies cannot continue in the extant lackadaisical manner they are handling issues of insecurity, while criminals and terrorists perpetuate atrocious activities, with wanton destruction of property and killings of innocent people, virtually unfettered. A situation where citizens, constantly live in fear of their lives and property, is unacceptable,” PANDEF added.
At Thursday’s security meeting attended by all heads of the armed forces and security agencies including the national security adviser (NSA), Major Gen. Babagana Monguno (rtd), and the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu, at Aso Villa, Abuja; Buhari berated the service chiefs who intimated that they were doing their best to fight insecurity, saying “their best was not enough.” He warned them to up their game, rather than make excuses, and demanded an immediate end to the current security crisis ravaging the country.
Beside Monguno and Adamu, other security chiefs at the meeting were: Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Abayomi Olonisakin; Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen Tukur Buratai; Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas, and Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar. Also present were: Defence Minister, Brig-Gen. Bashir Magashi (rtd.); Director General of the Nigeria Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ahmed Rufai Abubakar; Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Yusuf Bichi; Chief of Defence Intelligence Agency, Air Vice Marshal Mohammed Sani Usman; Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, and Chief of Staff, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari.
The meeting held against the backdrop of public disenchantment with the worsening insecurity in the country, especially in the northern regions, which climaxed Tuesday, when demonstrators took to the streets in the president’s home state of Katsina to protest the rising wave of banditry and kidnappings. The protesters vandalized and destroyed billboards with Buhari’s effigy to express their anger at his perceived inability to provide security for the country. Organized by the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG), the protests prompted the president to dispatch the security chiefs led by Mungono to the state on Wednesday, to seek lasting solutions to the security crisis. The delegation was also in Sokoto, which is in the throes of banditry. The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhadji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, and the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) also condemned the escalating security crisis and told Buhari to get his act together.
The norther region, especially in the war-ravaged Northeast has been witnessing a resurgence in Boko Haram attacks; the most recent claimed the lives of at least 81 people in Faduma Kolomdi, Borno State.
Bandits also killed over 70 people in Sokoto, while Southern Kaduna, Zamfara, Niger, Plateau and Benue States have become the hotbeds of insecurity.
However, notwithstanding the growing calls for Buhari to shake-up the security establishment over the apparent failure of the security chiefs to rise up to the challenges, the president has resisted calls for their dismissal. Briefing State House reporters after the security meeting, Monguno said Buhari “was extremely unhappy” with the current security crisis; saying he reminded them of his election campaign promises to defeat the insurgency and end insecurity.
Monguno said the president reminded the security chiefs that their appointments were not based on recommendations but rather unilaterally made by him, adding that it was up to them to justify such appointments and stop disappointing the Nigerian people. Asked if the acknowledgment of failure by the security chiefs by the president would eventually culminate in their sacking, Monguno said only the president can take that decision.
Meanwhile, police arrested many students in Katsina yesterday following another wave of protest over insecurity in the president’s home state. Yesterday’s protest, coming on the heels of a similar one on Tuesday, was led by university students drawn from tertiary institutions in the state, who called for the resignation of some top government officials. Katsina state police spokesman, police superintendent Gambo Isah, confirmed the arrest, saying: “They came out on the streets saying the Secretary to the State Government must go; so we don’t know who is the brain behind this politically-motivated demonstration in Katsina. It is very unlawful and instigating members of the public against government, so it is a crime and we are not going to leave it. We will prosecute them in court. We will charge them for inciting disturbance, breach of peace amongst others.”
