The
All Progressives Congress (APC) has told the PDP that President
Goodluck Jonathan is not the first minority to rule Nigeria and will not
be the last, hence the frequent resort to his minority ethnicity is
nothing but a poorly-veiled attempt to cover up his blatant
incompetence, poor leadership and sheer cluelessness.
In a
statement issued in Ibadan on Thursday by its Interim National Publicity
Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the PDP’s claim that the
Boko Haram insurgency and other internecine crises in the country were
being sponsored by the opposition because the President hails from a
minority group is totally irresponsible and absolutely not grounded in
fact.
It said First Republic Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa (Sayewa)
and military heads of state Yakubu Gowon (Angas) and Sani Abacha
(Kanuri) were also from minority ethnic groups, a fact that is lost on
the trifling PDP.
Jonathan-Lai
”The
PDP has recently been making outlandish statements and accusations that
are capable of destabilizing Nigeria. In its new found proclivity for
issuing frivolous press statements, the party has forgotten that facts
are sacred and cannot be manipulated. But even by its low standard, the
PDP has plumbed the depth of irresponsibility with its latest claim.
”President
Jonathan’s woes have nothing to do with his minority ethnicity, but the
manifestation of his incompetence, cluelessness and inferiority
complex, and the fact that he is backed by a greedy, visionless and
crooked cabal, both within his government and his party,” APC said.
The
party said if indeed the PDP believes the opposition is sponsoring Boko
Haram to stop President Jonathan from realizing his so-called
Transformation Agenda, what prevents the PDP-led Federal Government from
instituting a probe into all the incidences so far, and to unravel the
sources of the sect’s weapons, as demanded recently by Gov. Murtala
Nyako?
APC said just like ethno-religious crises in Nigeria
predate President Jonathan’s assumption of office, the Boko Haram
insurgency started in 2002 during the Obasanjo regime, even though it
became aggravated in 2009 when then President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua
ordered a joint security operation, following the killing of over a
dozen policemen, and the failure of police action to curb the crisis.
The
party said it is public knowledge that the operation led to the killing
of an estimated 1,000 alleged Boko Haram members, including the
extra-judicial murder of sect leader Muhammed Yusuf, and set the stage
for the insurgency that Nigeria is witnessing today.
”Even then,
the insurgency that could have been quickly curtailed has worsened under
President Jonathan because of his ineffectual leadership. Instead of
tackling the insurgency decisively as a well-honed leader would have
done, the clueless President and his equally feckless party have
resorted to blaming the opposition and everyone but themselves for the
worsening of the crisis,” it said.
APC said the usual recourse to
President Jonathan’s ethnic origin to cover his glaring non-performance
does not impress Nigerians, who are aware that as a minority, Jonathan
could not have become President without the votes of the country’s
majority ethnic groups- Hausa/Fulani, Igbo and Yoruba
”In any
case, if the PDP is arguing that President Jonathan is being
‘persecuted’ because he hails from a minority ethnic group, is it the
majority ethnic groups that supposedly voted massively for him that are
now persecuting him? And what will be their reasons for persecuting the
same man they voted into office?
”The truth is that President
Jonathan is overwhelmed by the demands of his office, and his party is
more interested in looting the public treasury than assisting him to
succeed,” the party said. ”The President and his party should admit
their failure to meet the yearnings and aspirations of Nigeria and give
way to those who are willing and able to perform.”
APC said a
country that has no discernible counter-terrorism strategy that will
clearly identify the multiple means for preventing, responding and
defeating terrorist groups, including the alignment of political,
military, social and economic instruments and objectives, cannot expect
to successfully battle any insurgency.
”We have continued to offer
suggestions to this government on how it can tackle the insurgency that
is now ravaging a part of the country.We have called for improved
intelligence gathering, the aligning of military and political
solutions, the need to de-radicalize the affected areas as well as to
invest in research that will give more insight into the different
aspects of Boko Haram, including its ideology, leadership structure,
profile of members, internal organization, sources of funding and
weapons and links to diaspora.
”We have stressed the need to widen
the scope of our response to include the sub-regional bloc ECOWAS and
the continental body African Union, especially since Boko Haram has
assumed a regional dimension. We have called for a Marshall Plan of
sorts for the North-east, not the paltry 2 billion Naira which the FG
provided as recovery fund to the six North-east states, at least four of
which are worse-hit by the insurgency.
”We have called for an end
to inter-agency rivalries that have weakened the fight against the
terrorists, and we have advocated the need to lift the morale of our
gallant men and women in uniform who are battling the insurgency,
instead of the huge funds allocated for the purpose of upgrading their
equipment ending in the deep pockets of fat cats.
”If and when
these and other recommendations are taken seriously by the government,
instead of resorting to ethnic and religious excuses, then it will begin
to seriously address the insurgency,” the party said.
