Nigerians are tired of sermons, deal with your failed appointees, – ACF Tells Buhari

The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has submitted that the failure of President Muhammadu Buhari to hold his appointees responsible for their failures in office is partly responsible for the growing insecurity in Nigeria.

The forum observed further that the insecurity plaguing many parts of Nigeria has left many citizens and residents worried, therefore calling on President Buhari to up his game.

The ACF in a statement on Monday by its Secretary-General, Murtala Aliyu added that the usual rhetorics of condemning attacks and ordering investigation after attacks by terrorists have happened is no longer acceptable.

Specifically, the ACF statement expressed concerns about the daring attack on Kuje prison facility in Abuja in which many terrorists were freed, the attack on the President’s advance convoy in Katsina and the Abuja-Kaduna train attack.

It, therefore, called on the President and the government to buckle up and tackle the security challenges in the country before things get worse as the criminals are getting emboldened by the failure of the government to act appropriately.

The ACF said: “Over the past few months, the security crises we face in Nigeria has been deepening and there is a dangerous escalation of violence and bloodshed. Criminal gangs, heavily armed bandits, armed robbers, secessionist insurgents along with those that call themselves soldiers of so-called Caliphate, have laid siege to Nigeria; more so in the northern states.

“The highly coordinated attack on the Kuje Prison in the Federal Capital, Abuja, on July 5, 2022, and the mass escape of hardened criminals, many of whom are Boko Haram terrorists, has triggered an unprecedented wave of apprehension and panic among the long-suffering people, particularly of the North.

“Coming around the time the advance convoy of Mr. President heading to Daura and long after the deadly attack on the Abuja-Kaduna train on March 28, 2022, in which many people were killed and a lot more kidnapped, the question on the lips of the public is: how and where will these crises, which are unprecedented in severity, leave us?

“We noted that the response of President Muhammadu Buhari to the Kuje Prison tragedy in particular was to offer the familiar cocktail of platitudes, of sermons, condemnations and yet more sermons. As usual, the President asked the security services to ‘investigate’ the outbreak and find out what led to it.

Presumably, in the view of the President, that was all that he was expected or required to do in the circumstances.”

The statement noted that it is not a time to play sycophancy or politics as the President needs to be told what the masses are going through and their expectations from him.

“Although we count ourselves amongst his ardent supporters and have always wished him well, Nigeria’s rapid descent into strife, violence and lawlessness is getting to a point at which we can no longer afford to tell him only that which he wants to hear. We do need to tell the President what he also needs to hear.

“We simply are unable to find any courteous or less painful words to describe the feeling of utter frustration among the broad masses of Nigeria, especially in the North, arising from the ineffectual management of the security crises by the President.

“The President, in his Sallah message, promised to deal with the situation before the end of his tenure. However, as long as the crises remain unabating, Nigerians will justifiably conclude that the government is ineffective and needs to do more if they will ever be able to quell the crises.

“Probably because President Buhari is unable or unwilling to hold his appointees responsible for any deterioration of the security situation and some other socioeconomic sectors under their watch, the vast amount of money and other resources being pumped into the security agencies have largely been ineffective,” the ACF statement added.