Politics
Nationwide Harvest Of Corpses
Bandits, herdsmen, insurgents, professional kidnappers, hooligans, cultists and gangsters, religious fanatics, highway robbers and sea pirates: you just name them, are now holding the nation to ransom. There is no week that we don’t hear of reports of atrocities carried out by these miscreants in the country.
Prior to the 2015 presidential elections, the then opposition presidential candidate was touted as the best candidate that can handle the menace of Boko Haram, being a retired general and a former Head of State with vast experience in security matters.
But today as an incumbent president with all the instrument of coercion at his disposal, how have Nigerians fared with him being in power for four years? From reports across the country, nothing has improved but rather things are getting worse day-by-day.
Boko Haram is still very much active, herdsmen are still killing, our highways have become the playground of armed robbers, kidnappers and rapists with our rivers and seas a fishing pond for sea pirates.
In Zamfara State alone, it is estimated that over 11, 000 persons have lost their lives between 2011 to date to the activities of bandits, not counting those kidnapped or raped.
In virtually every state of the federation, these criminals are having a free run with the security forces looking helpless. The situation has been so bad that even retired generals who are supposed to live out the remaining part of their lives in peace are either shot dead at their homes or on their way to their farms.
We are indeed experiencing a harvest of corpses in Nigeria, with most people feeling unconcerned at the situation until the gale of violence hits their loved ones or communities.
In Nigeria, we don’t take criminal activities seriously, and tend to look at them from either ethnic or religious prism. If we recall prior to 1999, there was nothing like bandits, cultists, religious fanatics and other criminally minded miscreants rearing their ugly heads, but sadly some of these problems could be traced to the activities of politicians who employed some of these youths as thugs to do their biddings at all cost.
Today, the thugs have graduated to become gun totting menace to our collective peace of mind. Even our houses with series of gates and padlocks cannot stop their determined effort to harm us. And those privileged to have armed excorts are not totally safe even on the streets and highways.
It is too bad that people read political meaning into a lot of security issues in the country. Under former President Goodluck Jonathan, a group known as the Bornu Elders and the Northern Elders Forum vehemently opposed the call for a state of emergency in Bornu State because of the security challenges and some of them even went further to say that the fight against Boko Haram is a plot to reduce the population of the North. The then Chief of Army Staff, Lt General Azubuike Ihejirika was accused of carrying out a genocidal plan to wipe out people from these areas. They threatened to take General Ihejirika to the International Criminal Court at The Hague.
This is 2019, is there any improvement in the war against insurgents and their fellow comrades in arms? The answer is yet to be a yes! From May 2015 to date, more Nigerians have died than at any period of the country’s bloody history. We are not at war yet the body count is still mounting.
Let us do away with politicians’ security issues and look at it from just the professional and nationalistic point of view. In Sri Lanka, it did not take the government more than a week to identify the culprits of the Easter Day bombings and less than three weeks to discover the hideouts of some of the culprits and their sponsors. But in Nigeria, the response to such security challenge is always inept, delayed or never sees the light of day. This is 2019, yet, we are still waiting to hear the security services tell us how many of the masterminds or sponsors of the criminal activities have been identified or charged to court.
Although moves have been initiated by the National Assembly and State Governments to tackle the security challenges, but there must be sincerity on the part of the federal government if these problems could be tackled successfully.
While vigilante groups like Hisbah in Kano, Kaduna, Bauchi would be allowed to operate in the North, some State Governments in the South have made attempt to set up security outfits to lessen the burden of the regular police only for the army to disperse them and tag them as thugs. Yet we are in one country.
If the ruling class continues to see critical issues, from the prism of politics, then, where are we heading to? Security problems should always be a collective issue where every stakeholder in the Nigerian project makes his or her own contribution as we are all affected by the wave of killings, kidnapping, rape and destruction.
Just recently, one of the image makers of President Muhammadu Buhari, Garba Shehu opened his mouth too wide and insulted the sensibilities of Nigerians by classifying Miyetti Allah, Ohanaeze Ndigbo and Afenifere as belonging to one category.
This is just the problem with Nigeria, it is either we trivialise issues or we play the ethnic card. If we keep on playing these cards, the owners and masters of the Abuja/Kaduna highway of death, the East/West road and other major roads in the country will continue to have a field day while the high command of the security services will be busy touring state commands and having security seminars on how to tackle insecurity.
It is high time President Muhammadu Buhari wielded the big stick as those he has given the task of safeguarding the security of the country have failed in their primary assignment.
Let heads roll!!!
Tonye Ikiroma-Owiye
Politics
Reps Constitution Review Committee Holds Zonal Hearing For Rivers, C’River, Akwa Ibom In Calabar
A press statement issued by the Chief Press Secretary to the Cross River State Governor, Mr Linus Obogo, disclosed that the Calabar Centre — designated as Centre B — will host representatives and stakeholders from Cross River, Rivers, and Akwa Ibom States.
The public hearing is scheduled to take place on Saturday, July 19, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. at the Transcorp (Metropolitan) Hotel, Calabar.
The initiative, according to the statement, is designed to promote inclusive dialogue and capture the aspirations of Nigerians from all regions.
It aims to serve as a platform for citizens to contribute meaningfully to the ongoing national efforts to refine and strengthen the country’s legal and institutional frameworks.
“Citizens, civil society groups, professional bodies, traditional rulers, and other interest blocs are invited to participate in this landmark engagement aimed at advancing a more just, equitable, and responsive Nigerian Constitution,” the statement read.
The hearing forms part of the broader review process of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), and is seen as a strategic move toward fostering national unity and addressing structural legal issues within the federation.
For the first time since 2022, when then-presidential aspirant Alhaji Bola Tinubu declared he made former President Buhari Nigeria’s President in 2015, Mr Mustapha dismissed the claims, stressing that the merger only contributed about three million votes in addition to Buhari’s existing 12 million votes in the North.
He insisted that former President Buhari’s integrity, national stature, and disciplined messaging were central to the breakthrough, not the three million votes from the merging parties, which he described as insignificant.
Speaking on the role of the merging parties, particularly President Tinubu, the leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Mr Mustapha, who was the keynote speaker at the launch of the book ‘According to the President: Lessons from a Presidential Spokesman’s Experience’ authored by Mallam Garba Shehu, described the impact of the votes from other merging parties as very insignificant.
In attendance were former Head of State Yakubu Gowon, chair of the event; immediate past Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; SGF George Akume, who represented President Tinubu; PDP’s 2023 presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar; former Chief of Staff to Buhari Ibrahim Gambari; elder statesman Babagana Kingibe; former governors Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna), Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), Chris Ngige (Anambra), Rauf Aregbesola (Osun), Raji Babatunde Fashola (Lagos); former ministers Solomon Dalung and Sunday Dare; former Army Chief Tukur Buratai, and Bayo Onanuga, President Tinubu’s spokesman, among others.
According to Mr Mustapha, “I do not intend to stir up any controversy. The merger in 2013 was midwifed to create a Buhari presidency. Let us look at the statistics. In the 2003 election, it was the Obasanjo-Buhari presidential contest where Buhari recorded 12.7 million votes. In 2007, it came to 6.6 million, and it went back to 12.2 million in 2011.
“When we were conceptualising the merger, what would give us a headstart? Obviously, it was at the back of our consciousness that the merger with the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), though it had only one state, the ACN had six states, ANPP three states, and when you sum up the total votes that we had as the presidency in 2015, the aggregate of the total votes was 15.4 million.
“So, basically, what we brought to the table after the merger outside the Buhari 12.5 million votes was three million. Before turning to that presidency, it is important to recognise the former President’s role in reshaping Nigeria’s political trajectory.
“In early 2013, as the leader of the CPC, Buhari formally requested and supported the creation of a CPC merger committee, part of a broader coalition-building process that brought together the ACN, ANPP, APGA faction, and elements of the ruling party through the breakaway ‘new PDP’ group. His endorsement and participation, along with other party leaders such as President Tinubu and Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, lent credibility and direction to the merger, helping to unify disparate party factions under the banner of the APC. That coalition-building paved the way for the first democratic defeat of an incumbent ruling party in Nigeria’s history.
“President Buhari’s integrity, national stature, and disciplined messaging were central to that breakthrough. No account of President Buhari’s tenure would be complete without acknowledging the extended periods he spent on medical leave. These moments, while politically delicate, were also telling of his leadership philosophy and personality,” he said.
In his remarks, President Tinubu promised to build on the legacies of former President Buhari, stressing that “nation-building is a relay. The efforts of one administration lay the foundation for the next.
“In this regard, I acknowledge the efforts of my predecessor, President Buhari, and assure all Nigerians that the reform-oriented path he initiated will be consolidated and strengthened under this administration. Our Renewed Hope Agenda is inspired by the desire to build a resilient, just, and inclusive Nigeria—a nation that delivers dividends of democracy to all its citizens”.
Speaking during an appearance on live television on Wednesday, Mr Omokri alleged that Mr Obi’s statements were misleading and damaging to the country’s economic prospects.
Mr Omokri said some investors currently operating in Nigeria were considering exiting the market due to Mr Obi’s remarks.
“That is not true. He doesn’t rile me up. I rile him up. The reason why I came here is because I’m a patriot. Peter Obi lied. You know, foreign direct investors are watching your programme, who are making investment decisions not to come to Nigeria. There are foreign investors in Nigeria that are making investment decisions to leave Nigeria because of the lie he told.
“One of the lies he told is that President Tinubu has borrowed more than the administrations of Yar’Adua, Jonathan, Buhari. That is a blatant lie”, Mr Omokri said.
To buttress his claims, Mr Omokri referenced figures from the Debt Management Office (DMO), maintaining that President Tinubu had actually reduced Nigeria’s external debt burden since assuming office.
“I have here with me data from the Debt Management Office, and Nigerians who are watching can go to DMO.com and search Debt Management Office, Nigeria State of Indebtedness 2015.
“As of 2015, Nigeria was owing a total of $63 billion. When Buhari was leaving office, Nigeria was owing $113 billion. Today, from the DMO, our debt has gone from $113 billion to $97 billion, meaning that Tinubu has reduced our debt by over $14 billion.
“We should be appreciating this man. Yet Peter Obi came here and lied to the Nigerian people. He took the debts and translated them into naira to make it look like the debts have increased”, he said.