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2023: Afenifere applauds Buhari’s directive on appointees to resign

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3 years ago

Pan- Yoruba socio-political organization, Afenifere, on Thursday, applauded President Muhammadu Buhari on the directive given by him to political appointees interested in contesting elective offices to resign their positions, saying the promptness of its execution had demonstrated that he can be decisive where and when he wanted to and on matters that touched his heart.

Afenifere said this on Thursday in reaction to Buhari’s directives to serving ministers, among others who were eyeing elective offices ahead of the 2023 General Elections, even as it noted that Buhari’s order was a confirmation of the notion that many Nigerians already had.

The group, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Jare Ajayi, while conceding that the resignation of those interested in contesting for offices would provide a level playing ground for all contestants, called on the president to apply the same decisiveness with which he charged his appointees to tackle the myriads of challenges that the country was facing to avert a slide into anarchy.

In particular, Afenifere tasked the president to tackle the country’s problems headlong now that he had shown that he was still very much in control, contrary to the insinuation that his government had been hijacked by a cabal, saying he should among others strengthen the nation’s security agencies, allow the establishment of State Police, and begin the process of restructuring with a view to having a true federal system for the country.

“The gusto with which the order of President Muhamadu Buhari on political appointees to resign if they intend to contest in the forthcoming elections was carried out indicated that he seems to be comfortable with those other aspects of governance that Nigerians are complaining about because of the pains they are suffering. Were he to be disturbed by and concerned about those things that are bothering Nigerians he would have brought the same swiftness to bear on those areas.

“It makes it difficult for one to agree with the notion that he does not have the power or capacity to deal with at least some of the major problems Nigerians are battling with.

“He has failed to deal with them only because he did not consider them as problematic as the rest of us are considering them,” Afenifere stated.

“Unfortunately, those who are close to the president and could make him see the problems realistically failed to do so either because they are afraid or because they are profiting from the anomalies going on or both,” the group added.

Afenifere wondered what stops President Buhari from providing all that was needed by the security agencies in the country to put an end to terrorism and insecurity going on in the country, or what stops him from ensuring that the Ministries of Education and Labour provide the wherewithal for the smooth running of nation’s universities in line with the proposition that the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) have been making for several years, or harmonizing the Reports of the 2014 National Conference and that of El Rufai APC Committee on Restructuring and ensure that the country was restructured forthwith, among others.

“For example, what stops the president from providing all that is needed by the security agencies in the country to put a stop to terrorism and insecurity going on in the country? What stops him from ensuring that the Ministries of Education and Labour provide the wherewithal for the smooth running of our universities in line with the proposition that the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) have been making for several years? What stops President Buhari from breathing life back into the moribund four refineries in the country or building new ones? the group queried.

“What stops him from harmonizing the Reports of the 2014 National Conference and that of El Rufai APC Committee on Restructuring and ensuring that the country is restructured forthwith? Or to arrest the rapid plunge the country’s economy is making into the ditch,” the group further queried.

This was just as Afenifere said that apart from the serious pains that Nigerians were feeling economically, recalling that the United Nations’ Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) had predicted that the combined challenges of low exports, insecurity and infrastructure gaps could push 19.4 million Nigerians into a food crisis by August this year.

According to it, the body had, earlier in March revealed that 14.5 million Nigerians were already food insecure particularly in the North-East, North-West and Central regions of the country.

“In a similar vein, the country’s ranking in the Global Terrorism Index is 8.23. A country with no terrorism act is zero on the Index while 10 represents the highest. Standing on 8.23, it means that Nigeria is almost at the maximum level in terrorism activities,” Ajayi said in the statement.

Afenifere, therefore, called on President Buhari to use the same will and decisiveness that he had demonstrated in at least three areas lately to attend to issues surrounding security, economy and tertiary education in Nigeria.

The three instances, according to the pan- Yoruba socio-political group were the decisiveness with which he resolved the issues surrounding the composition of his political party’s national executive committee, the swiftness with which he attended to Airline Operators’ demand to dissuade them from stopping flight operations and the swiftness with which he dealt with the issue of political appointees who were interested in contesting for offices.

Afenifere, while making the demand, argued that the issue of non-availability of funds should no longer be an excuse, as, according to it, the All Progressives Congress (APC), to which the president belonged raised several billions of naira in less than two weeks just for aspirants to express interests in running for offices.

It pointedly declared that what was lacking on the part of the Buhari- led government was the political will, adding: “The only thing that is lacking is the political will.”

“After all, his party raised several billions of naira in less than two weeks, just for aspirants to express interests in running for offices. If the ruling party could raise such a huge sum within so short a time, why is the government finding it difficult to raise the N200 billion required to make our educational institutions at the tertiary level worthy of its name? Between contest for elective offices and education of the country, which should be more important,” Ajayi queried.

“With gunmen wreaking havoc in many places, including the attacks on army formation in Taraba yesterday in which seven officers were reported dead, hike in services, including electricity, gas, fuel, kerosene etc. and people being prevented from pursuing their legitimate businesses in parts of the country, it is incumbent on the government to act promptly to prevent anarchy.

“It is clear that Nigeria’s situation continues to deteriorate not because solutions are not known nor because of the paucity of the wherewithal to solve the problems. The only thing that is lacking is the political will,” Afenifere lamented.

It maintained that President Buhari should tackle the country’s problems headlong now that he had shown that he was still very much in control, contrary to the insinuation that his government had been hijacked by a cabal.

The group said he should do this by among others, strengthening security agencies, allowing the establishment of a State Police, beginning the process of restructuring with a view to having a true federal system for Nigeria and ensuring that the forthcoming elections were free, and fair and credible in all senses.