No president will say banditry will end next year — FG

The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, says no president will say banditry will next year. 

The minister, at a press conference in Abuja on Wednesday, was responding to a question on whether the current security challenges would end before President Muhammadu Buhari leaves office in 2023.

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He said: “Nobody, I’m not sure any president will say by next year there will be no banditry. It is just like saying by next year, there will be no thief. 

“But what is important is that they should judge us by our achievement. We’ve not thrown our hands in the air. There was a time they asked us to hire mercenaries, but our soldiers are doing their best in these circumstances.”

The minister also said to say President Buhari has nothing more to offer “is untrue, fallacious and smacks of dirty politicking.”

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo had, at an event organised by the Global Peace Foundation and Vision Africa in Abuja on Monday, said Buhari had done his best and Nigerians should not expect anything more from him.

The former leader had said expecting anything more from Buhari was akin to “whipping a dead horse”.

But Lai Mohammed said the skewed narrative in certain quarters that Buhari had not shown enough empathy “is glib talk. The president has also continued to work with our neighbouring countries and indeed our western partners to tackle insecurity, especially terrorism.” 

According to him, while there is nothing wrong in the citizens expressing their concerns over the insecurity in the country, “the use of incendiary and insulting words, especially by leaders of all hues, can only overheat the polity and heighten tension.” 

He said Buhari had done so much under very difficult economic and social conditions to tackle insecurity in the country. 

“Not only has he done so much, President Buhari continues to do much more to keep Nigerians safe.”

He said by boosting the number and capacity of the fighting forces, the president was putting them in good stead to tackle insecurity not just during the life of his administration but long after he would have left office.

“President Buhari is leaving a legacy of security, infrastructural development, economic prosperity and social cohesion for Nigeria. This may not seem obvious today, amidst daunting challenges, but posterity will be kind to this president.”

The minister commended the security agencies for their continued service to the nation. 

He said the polity had recently been awash with heightened commentary on the insecurity in the country. “The commentary has been triggered by genuine concerns in some circles, and crass politicking or sheer absurdity in others.”

Mohammed said people only looked at the current situation without wondering what would have been if Buhari had “not taken the bull by the horns as far as security is concerned.”

He said with the way the insurgents were going before the present administration came into office, “with their control of a vast swath of land the size of Belgium”, with their freewheeling attacks in almost a dozen states, including the Federal Capital Territory which was hit at least five times, perhaps they could have achieved their aim of declaring an Islamic state in Nigeria if Buhari had not acted decisively. 

“After all, in 2014, Boko Haram declared a Caliphate in Gwoza after capturing Bama and Gamboru as well as other towns and villages in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa.

“They installed their own emirs, collected taxes and flew their flag before the military dislodged them.

“Yes, banditry and kidnapping have added to the state of insecurity, President Buhari has also continued to provide quality leadership in order to ensure that our security agencies decisively tackle the cankerworm of insecurity of any hue.

“No administration in Nigeria’s recent history has provided the security agencies with the hardware needed to tackle insecurity as that of President Buhari, in addition to raising the morale of our security men and women.” 

On why the federal government had not declared bandits as terrorists, the minister said:” I think the AGF went to court and got a declaration.

“As far as the law is concerned today, bandits are terrorists. But it is not me or you that will say that they’re terrorists, the court has made a declaration.

 “There’s a process for everything, we should be patient. The Attorney-General of the Federation won’t go to court for nothing. For the AGF to go to court, it’s the biggest step to declare bandits as terrorists.”