BY KUNLE OYATOMI
Nigeria is awash with sad and disturbing tales. No thanks to eight years of lackadaisical approach to insecurity under the Buhari administration.
For eight years, Nigeria’s security architecture, which had weakened under the Goodluck Jonathan administration, completely collapsed under the late President Muhammadu Buhari.
Across the North and East, Nigerians were constantly in pain, tears and anger, leading them to give an unfavorable assessment of the administration.
Today, President Bola Tinubu is grappling with the consequences of the past. But the good thing is that he is tackling in a manner that had not been seen in over a decade.
Under Jonathan, in April 2014, 276 schoolgirls were abducted by Boko Haram militants from the Government Girls’ Secondary School in Chibok.
He could not coordinate an immediate response to rescue those girls. Unsurprisingly, that event remains one of those that sounded the death knell for his administration, leading to his failure to actualize his re-election bid.
His successor didn’t fare any better.
According to the International Centre for Investigative Reporting, ICIR, in 2023, approximately 900 children were either abducted or killed in their schools during Buhari’s days in office.
Based on documented accounts, ICIR recounted that the first major incident was the attack on a government secondary school in the village of Mamudo, Yobe State, in 2013, in which no fewer than 42 people, including students, were killed.
ICIR also stated that the second incident was the attack on the Federal Government College, Buni Yadi, in 2014, where the attackers burnt or slaughtered 59 schoolboys.
Those were bleeding days, when parents could not allow their children to go to school over fears that their blood could be used as a sacrifice to appease the gods of unknown gunmen, bandits or herdsmen, especially in the North were non-state actors had become a blight.
With Tinubu, all that changed as soon as he was sworn-in on May 29, 2023. For over two years in the saddle, not one such major incident was recorded. As Commander-in-Chief, his coordination of the security services became topnotch and the envy of many, even his biggest critics.
However, with less than two years to the upcoming elections, renewed insurgency erupted from nowhere, leaving everyone disturbed and visibly angry that Nigeria is returning to bleak days of Jonathan and Buhari.
Within weeks of each other, Brigadier General Uba and three of his men were abducted and publicly executed by Islamist terrorists in Borno State.
In Tsafe Local Government Area of Zamfara State, 64 civilians, including women and children, were abducted by Islamist terrorists.
In Maga, Kebbi State, 25 female students and their principal were abducted from a school while their vice principal was killed.
In Eruku, Kwara State, 38 worshippers were abducted from a church.
In Geidam, Yobe State, one policeman was killed in an attack by Islamist terrorists.
In Gwoza, Borno State, eight members of the Civilian Task Force were killed and three were abducted.
In Sabon Birni, Sokoto State, 15 people were abducted, including four nursing mothers and babies, and two were killed.
In Edu, Kwara State, four rice farmers were killed in an attack, while 52 students were also abducted from a Catholic school in Agwara, Niger State.
Opposition parties, as expected, began crying foul, thinking that their chances ahead of 2027 were suddenly brighter.
Leading the charge was the dying Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, which called on Tinubu to either seek external help or step down.
The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Ini Ememobong, described the aforementioned incidents as evidence that the current government cannot manage the country’s deteriorating security situation.
Ememobong said: “We again remind the President, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and the entire All Progressives Congress, APC-led administration that the security of lives and property is the primary function of any government.
“At any time government is unwilling, unable, or incapable of executing this primary role, such a government must either ask for help, locally or internationally, or honourably resign if it is sincere and responsible.”
Like the PDP, the African Democratic Congress, ADC, in a statement, also weighed in on the developments.
The ADC said: “This is a shameful abdication of responsibility, a confirmation that the Tinubu government is overwhelmed by the security situation in the country and is clueless about how to go about solving it.
“For years under the APC administration, Nigerians have suffered horrific massacres, mass abductions, and assaults on schools and worship centres. This situation has worsened with each passing year, particularly under the current administration as the bandits and terrorists get more emboldened by government’s failure to respond appropriately.”
Unfortunately for them, Tinubu dashed their hopes and shut their leaky mouths as the 35 students kidnapped from Government Girls Comprehensive Senior Secondary School, GGCSS, Maga, in Danko/Wasagu, were freed following a coordinated non-kinetic rescue operation by the Tinubu government.
Also, the 24 female students abducted from Government Girls Comprehensive Senior Secondary School, GGCSS, Maga in Danko/Wasagu Local Government Area of Kebbi State regained their freedom. All these rescue efforts were initiated in less than a week.
To this end, while Tinubu cannot outdo the mistakes of the past even though government is a continuum, his willingness to ensure a secure nation cannot be doubted and that is a reason he would be re-elected in 2027.
As he has said: “Let me be clear: I will not relent. Every Nigerian, in every state, has the right to safety, and under my watch, we will secure this nation and protect our people,” Nigerians can keep their mind at rest that the Tinubu administration would do all in its powers to exterminate non-state actors instilling fears in citizens.
Oyatomi, Former Editor, (Sunday Vanguard), Author (FINGERPRINTS 2008) and a Lawyer, is a member of the Board of Independent Media and Policy Initiative (IMPI), a Think Tank based in Abuja.
