Confirmed, Chatham House is the new Political Mecca for all Presidential candidates in Nigeria. Buhari was there in 2014 and by 2015 he became Nigeria's President. It is therefore likely that many of the Presidential candidates assume that there is some kind of good luck charm in that world leading policy institute. At the moment, all the serious contenders for the seat of the President have visited Chartham house, made their case and engaged with the audience. Whoever has the best presentation in Chartham House, assuming there was a rating, would not necessarily emerge as the next President of Nigeria. That is because, like security, politics is local. You don't need to go to Sokoto to find wetin dey inside your sokoto. Put simply, all the expensive trips to Chartham House is needless. What baffles me is that some candidates who have declined invitation to public debates willfully volunteer to appear at Chartam House. Back home in Nigeria, we have serious issues that we need to confront headlong not an international town hall, different . . . Issues like the unending insecurity.
If a police DPO and a First-Class Chief are not spared from being kidnapped, then who are you, an ordinary citizen, to claim that you are secure? Last week, the Police Command in Plateau said it had rescued the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Pankshin, SP Nwapi Augustus, who was abducted by gunmen in the previous week. They probably would have made the same claim about rescuing the paramount ruler of the Izere people of Jos east from the hands of his abductors. However, the good news is that both the DPO and the monarch have been rescued NOT by the police but by the local vigilante. Isn't it time we took an inventory of local vigilantes and put them on government payroll? When any of your family members is kidnapped, the police take your statement, survey the place of the kidnap and help you keep vigil until you pay the ransom, they could even join you in insulting the government while you wait for your loved one to be returned. Thanks to the royal and servile hunters of Pankshin and Jos East respectively, there is now a new narrative. Come to think about it, isn't it better to pay hunters 2 million naira to track down your kidnapped person than to give the money to the kidnappers themselves? I think there is a better way of appreciating hunters because, as my elder brother would say, "he who the hunters cannot find does not exist".
In Nassarawa State, gunmen abducted school Children in the early hours of Friday 20th January. They were said to have stormed LGEA Primary School, Alwaza, in Alwaza community, Doma LGA of Nasarawa State and abducted scores of school pupils in the area. kindly note the name of the school and predetermine their fate if something drastic is not done. Apparently, the gunmen staged the attack in broad daylight at a Primary School that could be used as a polling station in a few weeks. May they not disappear like many of the Chibok Girls.
In Imo State, the Sole Administrator of Ideato Local Government was kidnapped and he was later beheaded after a ransom of 6 million was collected. The victim, Christopher Ohizu, was abducted on Friday alongside two others when the gunmen attacked him and set his residence ablaze. They spectacularized the beheading by posting the image on the deceased WhatsApp status. A similar incident happened in a video that went viral where some Igbos were killed because they had flags of APC in their vehicles. All these senseless activities were unabashedly carried out by members of IPOB. By the way, IPOB has gained recognition on international terrorism index as the 3rd most dangerous terrorist organization in Nigeria. Let that sink in. Who is to blame? Buhari?
There was an explosion at an APC rally in Rivers State last week of which two casualties were recorded. I pray that this doesn't pave way for violent attacks at political gatherings because whoever will be killed or wounded in such places will be a Nigerian and, most importantly, a human being.
Please stay safe and vote wisely and rightly.
See you next week!
#FreeLeahSharibu
#SecureNigeria
Comments
Post a Comment