Many hapless Nigerians in Zagzaga, Chibani, and Kuchi communities, all in Munya Local Government Area of Niger State, are still in tears; tears for loved ones slaughtered by terrorists who raided these communities last Tuesday, May 27. The tears of many families in these communities may never dry. On that May 27, the terrorists, numbering over 100, moved from one community to another unhindered, killing people, including women and children. Cattle were rustled, houses burnt and foodstuffs looted by the gunmen.
On this same May 27, the Turji Bello-led terror group dominating Zamfara, Katsina and Kebbi states, stormed Danmuntari and Ali villages in Danko/Wasagu Local Government Area of Kebbi State, killing and maiming. By the time they left, no fewer than 127 persons had been abducted and scores killed.
The killings in Munya LGA of Niger State and Danko/Wasagu LGA of Kebbi State rightly capture the horrifying security situation across this country in the last 16 years. The last two years of the Tinubu government have been dreadful. In beloved Nigeria, terrorists still roam unhindered, killing and maiming. An estimated 6000 Nigerians have been sent to early graves in the last two year. No part of this country is spared, although the killings are more intense in Northern Nigeria and the South-east.
Yes, the security situation was very bad when Bola Tinubu assumed office as President of Nigeria two ago, but he has pathetically failed to actualise his promise to safeguard Nigerians. This is the truth that must be told. I was livid when I saw “improved security” listed among the achievements of the Tinubu government while celebrating its atrocious two years. Tinubu promised to end terrorism but has failed to do so in the last two years. Clearly, terrorists have been emboldened by the failings of Mr. President. As a result, bandits, kidnappers, armed robbers and herdsmen have intensified the terrorization of ill-fated Nigerians with impunity.
I can vividly remember Tinubu, while delivering his inaugural speech, saying emphatically that, “Security shall be the top priority of our administration because neither prosperity nor justice can prevail amidst insecurity and violence. To effectively tackle this menace, we shall reform our security doctrine and its architecture.”
It was a grandiloquence. Tinubu simply went to sleep while terrorists persist in the slaughtering and abduction of Nigerians. I can’t forget how two students of Confluence University of Science and Technology, Kogi State, were abducted from their campus and killed by terrorists on May 24, 2024. The slaughtered students (James Anajuwe and Musa Hussein) were among the 20 abducted in the school by the extremists on May 9, 2024. They were killed by the bastards after rejecting a N4 million ransom offered by their parents. The terrorists wanted N100 million.
No fewer than 280 pupils and teachers of Government Secondary School and LEA Primary School, Kuriga, Kaduna State, were abducted March 7, 2024, with a teacher killed. No fewer than 40 villagers killed in Zurak, Wase, Plateau State, on May 20, 2024. Eleven persons killed in three villages in Bakori LGA of Zamfara State on May 25, 2024. These are just few examples. The killings and abductions pour. The killers are hardly apprehended.
Mr. President ought to be embarrassed by endless terror attacks. Under Tinubu, terrorists still control territories in Nigeria. They run a government of their own. Communities under them in Niger, Borno, Yobe, Katsina, Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara and Kaduna states are in shambles. Many can no longer go to their farms. Many frustrated residents have relocated. As I pen this piece, Abadam LGA, on the western coast of Lake Chad, remains a stronghold of terrorists. Many LGAs in Borno, Zamfara Niger, Kebbi and Katsina states are under the servitude of terrorists. In two years of Tinubu as President, terrorists still control a large number of Nigerian territories. This is the truth that must be told.
Tinubu promised prosperity, but poverty pervades our country. The situation is worse than what it was under “calamity Buhari.” Scenes of people queuing for food is now common across beloved Nigeria as millions of persons battle for survival.
Distressed Nigerians swarm such food distribution venues with so much desperation. Many return to their homes with injuries. Some even perish. A stampede at one of such venues in Yaba, Lagos on February 23, 2024, led to the death of seven hapless Nigerians. They died queuing for rice. Nigerians have never been this pauperised, no thanks to the stupid economic policies of the Tinubu government.
Majority of those queueing for food are not happy doing this. They want an end to the beggarly treatment. They would love to walk into markets and buy their food. But skyrocketing prices of food have restricted them. Inflation at almost 24 per cent is preposterous. Governments at all level must take pragmatic steps to bring down the prices of food. It is not enough to share rice. Enough of cosmetic measures.
The President, Nigeria Labour Congress, Joe Ajaero, captures the failings of Tinubu in the last two years thus: ‘’When President Tinubu took office on May 29, 2023, he promised a new dawn – bold economic reforms that would rescue Nigeria from fiscal instability and set it on a path to prosperity. But two years later, the only thing bolder than his rhetoric is the magnitude of suffering and hardship his policies have inflicted on workers and ordinary Nigerians. Far from renewing hope, his administration has recycled the same failed neoliberal experiments of the past, proving once again that you cannot cure a patient by prescribing the poison that made them sick in the first place.’’
The removal of petrol subsidy and the floating of the Naira by the Tinubu government are two major factors responsible for rising food prices. The raging terrorism that has made it impossible for many farmers to access farms is also a factor affecting food prices. These are the issues I expect a serious government to tackle frontally. Unfortunately, in the last two years, the Tinubu government has failed woefully in this direction.
Our darling Naira is in shreds. It continues to depreciate against major world currencies. Every good government works to enhance the value of its currency. The reverse is the case in Nigeria. How can the Naira appreciate when our President keeps pumping money into needless projects like the Lagos to Calabar coastal road?
How can the Naira rise against the USD when Tinubu, his ministers and heads of agencies, keep pumping forex into useless foreign trips and subsidy for pilgrims? Most of the state governors and federal/state lawmakers are always globetrotting. I will never forget Nigeria’s jumbo delegation to the Climate Change Conference in the United Arab Emirates. Nigeria, with 1,411 participants, had the largest contingent from Africa and the third largest in the world. It was grossly insensitive, particularly for a country grappling with economic chaos, scruffy infrastructure and mass poverty.
Endless killings, hunger, poverty, disease and corruption still pervade our country after two years of Tinubu. Nigeria remains home to the largest number of poor people in the world. Clearly, the sufferings have become unbearable for most Nigerians under Tinubu. Mr. President, most of those around you won’t tell you this truth. This is because you have surrounded yourself with largely sycophants.
Honestly, I’ve not seen one problem confronting Nigerians that has been solved in the last two years of the Tinubu government. Mr. President’s policies have created far more glitches than they found; and in these two years, Tinubu is clearly still fumbling.
Today, I’m tempted to challenge Mr President to end insecurity and ameliorate the sufferings of Nigerians. But I have fears. I doubt if it would ever happen. It is so painful watching beloved Nigeria bleeding amid great potential.
I must not end this piece without talking about Nigerian state governors again. These guys ought to be contributing substantially to poverty alleviation. The reverse is the case in the last two years. Sadly, it has always been like this for years. Most of these governors are calamities confronting this country. Nigerians must fight for emancipation.