Senate President, international politics is not why insecurity persists

Over the last few days, the legislative arm which you (Senate President) lead has come under criticism for not refusing the N27bn earmarked by President Buhari for renovation of the National Assembly Complex. I am sure you must have heard or seen several people say on social media, that the sum is enough to upgrade […]

Over the last few days, the legislative arm which you (Senate President) lead has come under criticism for not refusing the N27bn earmarked by President Buhari for renovation of the National Assembly Complex.

I am sure you must have heard or seen several people say on social media, that the sum is enough to upgrade government hospitals to appreciable standards and ensure none of you panic when countries abroad lockdown.

In the heat of the outrage by Nigerians, you perhaps in a bid to reciprocate President Buhari’s generosity by taking some pressure off him, told the media that ‘international politics’ was responsible for our security agencies’ inability to contain insecurity in the country.

You said it was hard to buy what we needed from countries abroad and that while it takes others just two months, ours lasts 6-9 months. Let me start off with this question; did Buhari come into power 6-9 months ago?

Going by the duration you have put forth, we should at the very least have gotten a consignment of arms and other equipment once every year for the five years Buhari has been president.

There are countries plagued with just as many security issues that haven’t bought anything for their military in three years. It is simply not possible to justify the dreadful handling of security with that explanation.

If anything, it is an indictment on this government’s incompetence. In a nutshell, Boko Haram, bandits and other killers have operated unhindered over the years because the Buhari administration cannot equip the security agencies every two months. That is ridiculous. The least you all can do is to refrain from insulting our collective intelligence.

The reason we are losing to terror and crime is simple-government simply doesn’t want to tackle the problem head on.

Some of your peers in the APC were very vocal about the theory that President Jonathan was sponsoring Boko Haram and didn’t want the war to end. It is very sad that they are now silent under the current president.

There is also the issue of how the Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces sat and looked the other way instead of liaising with Chad as the leader of the Joint Task Force set up by President Jonathan when they embarked on an onslaught against the sect to ensure there are no hiding places on our side of the border.

Nigeria sat back and resorted to arguing whether Chad crossed our borders or not. The whole world; the US especially see all this and know our leaders are not committed to tackling insecurity.

France moved down to Africa months ago to help their former colonies fight terrorism and as I write this, they are all celebrating the killing of the African leader of Al-Qaeda, Abdelmalek Droukdel in Mali.

Countries don’t consider our arms purchase requests a priority because they know it really isn’t so. The least our colonial masters, the UK would do is help us fast track purchases but I doubt anyone has even asked them talk more sending troops down here.’International Politics’ is not the problem; President Buhari’s lack of commitment to the cause is.

Please let us lick our wound in peace and stop rubbing salt on it by attributing our problems to ‘International Politics’ when we all have eyes and ears.

 

Umar Sa’ad Hassan writes in from Kano