The presidency has described a recent article by The
Economist on Nigeria’s challenges as “flawed” and “anti-Nigeria”.
In the article which was published on Saturday, The
Economist had criticised the federal government’s approach to insecurity,
saying “when violence erupts, the government does nothing or cracks heads
almost indiscriminately”.
The article had also criticised security agencies, and in
its recommendations, said “to stop the slide towards lawlessness, Nigeria’s
government should make its own forces obey the law”.
Reacting in a statement on Sunday, Garba Shehu, presidential
spokesman, said while the article’s identification of the security threats
facing Nigeria are “correct”, the present administration is the only government
that has shown determination to fight insecurity.
“The Economist is
correct: Nigeria faces four key threats to the stability and prosperity of the
nation – namely: ISWAP/Boko Haram terrorism in the North-East; kidnapping and
crime in the North-West; herder-farmer disputes in the central belt; and the
delusions of IPOB terrorists in the South-East,” Shehu said.
“The Economist is also accurate to state that they have come
to a head under President Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC)
administration. Yet they do so, because for so long, under previous
administrations, whether military or democratic, tough decisions have been
ducked, and challenges never fully met – with the effect of abetting these
dangers and allowing them all to fester and grow. Today, all four threats are
being fought concurrently and it is only this President’s administration which
has finally had the will and determination to confront them.
“The Buhari administration has sought to push back terrorism
which has been a threat for more than two decades since the first emergence of
Boko Haram. It is only the Buhari administration that has now sought to
intervene against the kidnapping and banditry that has been a simmering threat
for far longer. It is only this President’s government which has taken on IPOB,
the violent terrorist group which bombs police stations and offices of security
agencies, while also threatening those who break their Monday-sit-ins whilst
claiming the mantle of forebears who half a century ago fought a civil war. And
it is only the Buhari leadership which has sought – ever, in over one hundred
years – to identify the root causes of the herder-farmer clashes and find
durable solutions.
“The forms may have
altered, and the threats posed by each may have waxed and waned, but what has
been constant is that administration after administration since independence –
whether military or democratic – none sought to fully address these threats to
Nigeria as President Buhari’s government does now.
“Today, the military is engaged in almost all the states of
Nigeria because the President has insisted upon addressing these
decade-after-decade-long issues during his time in office.
“In the North, Boko Haram members – many of whom now fight
under the breakaway banner of Islamic State’s West Africa Province (ISWAP) –
have been pushed back. At the start of the President’s tenure, Boko Haram was
launching attacks across the majority of the country – including in southern
states and Lagos. Today, they are cornered and confined along with their ISWAP
compatriots in our country’s outermost fringes of the border, unable to spread
further.
“In the South-East, IPOB – which the Economist rightly
describes as “delusional” – the arrest and present trial of the terrorist
leader of the group is the beginning of its demise. The President’s
administration is redoubling efforts to have IPOB rightfully designated as a
terrorist group by our allies outside of Nigeria – an act which will collapse
their ability to transact gains from crime and extortion in foreign currencies.
“It is important to
remind the Economist and the global media that this group’s aggression and
widespread presence on social media does not reflect their public support, for
which they have none: all elected governors, all elected politicians and all
elected state assemblies in the South-East – which IPOB claim to be part of
their fantasy kingdom – reject them completely.”
On banditry, the presidential spokesman added that the
attacks involving bandits have been “simmering for generations”, but “it is the
newest of the organised threats Nigeria faces to her stability”.
While faulting the description of banditry attacks in the
article, Shehu said criminals who have resources to shoot down military
aircraft shouldn’t be referred to as “bandits”, but as “highly organised crime
syndicates with huge resources and weaponry”.
He, however, added that while such organised syndicates are
not different from insurgents, the current administration remain committed to
addressing the situation.
“The Economist is
correct: Nigeria faces multiple threats. They confluence now not because of
this government; but on the contrary, it is this government which is addressing
them concurrently, and simultaneously – when no other prior administration
sought to adequately address even a single one. That is the difference between
what has gone before and what we have now. It is why the President and his
party were re-elected with’ an increased majority in national elections two
years ago,” he added.
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