Northern elders have blamed the festering insecurity in the
country, especially in the Northeast and North West geopolitical zones, on some
leaders and elders of the region, who they said saw the danger in the beginning
of the crisis, but refused to say the truth.
The northern elders said the attachment of religious and
regional considerations in dealing with the crisis was the bane of progress in
the war against insecurity, noting that such considerations led them to advise
President Muhammadu Buhari against picking security chiefs outside the north.
This, according to them, weakened the zeal with which most
handlers of the crisis were waging the war against terrorists, thus emboldening
the adversaries.
The elders, under the aegis of Coalition of Northern Elders for Peace and Development, in a statement, yesterday, particularly traced the origin of heightened insecurity in the north to the appointments made by Buhari in the security circle with little consideration for professionalism and proven competence.
“As difficult as it is in speaking the truth, we feel
constrained to admit that our quick resort to religious, ethnic and regional
considerations led us to advise the President in wrong directions.
“The war against insecurity could have been a thing of the
past if we had made good and informed decisions. We believe the complete
consideration of our interest in making appointments into security agencies,
among other things, led us to this present situation.
“Our decision resulted in deep drop in the pursuit of the
war against terrorists, thus emboldened the adversaries on the other hand.
“Many lives and property have been lost and destroyed.
Frontline troops were falling every day to a more determined group of
insurgents and bandits, but our decision to remain quiet and not say the truth
as things were happening, led us to this present situation,” the elders said in
the statement.
But in the statement by the group’s National Coordinator,
Goni Zana, the northern elders said the wrong advice from leaders and elders of
the region to the President in making such decision was the greatest undoing.
To this end, they asked the President to henceforth stop
adhering to advice from people of narrow interest and begin to take only
decisions that are pro-Nigeria, with a view to correcting the many ills of his
administration towards a better country.
To them, such decisions should be immediately reviewed,
adding that the appointment of service chiefs in particular should reflect the
various geopolitical zones, as well as appointments in other areas of national
life.
This, they insisted, would, to a large extent, encourage
patriotism and commitment of our forces and the citizens at large.
They added: “We wish to once again raise alarm over the
deteriorating state of security in the north. We have been crying and will
continue to cry until the situation gets better.
“We are losing it as a country and Mr. President needs to
take extra steps before we are consumed, as the rate at which we are going now,
if nothing is done within the shortest possible time, we may not have a country
to call our own.
“The era of doing the same thing over and over and expecting
different results is over. We cannot continue to dwell in the past; it’s time
to move forward now.
“Mr. President must ignore every sectional, regional, tribal
and religious sentiments and go for the best hands that can do this job of
securing our country.
“As northern elders who are concerned about the peace,
security and stability of our dear nation, we wish to appeal to those people of
influence in the north who have access to the President to always speak the
truth to him, especially in appointments or reforms in the security sectors and
others, even if it does not favour our region and religion, provided such
appointments will bring lasting peace and unify Nigeria.”
According to the elders: “The idea of always putting first
religion and geopolitical sentiments without looking out for professionalism
and competence is the reason why we are at this crossroad today.
“And until we put an end to these sentiments, we may be in
for a serious problem. Our highly respected traditional and religious leaders
must give Mr. President a pro-Nigeria advice and not personal advice.
“We are in this mess in the north today because some people
refused to speak the truth.”
The northern elders tasked the President not to look back in
correcting his mistakes in appointments into the security sector, saying
various geopolitical zones should be involved in the management of the tensed
security situation, insisting: “If we continue to make security appointments
based on religious and ethnic sentiments, we won’t get it right.”
They, however, urged Nigerians to believe in their country
and work for its betterment, “because we have just one country and nobody will
build our nation for us.”
“We all have equal stake in the Nigerian project.”
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