BY BUKAR ABBA<\/p>\n
Sometimes, I get amazed at the thinking of some politicians who feel the
\nelectorate is unreasonable, and can always be betrayed, swayed, used and
\ndumped at their whims and caprices. These leaders only find the people they
\nhave impoverished and exposed to devastating disasters as worthy partners
\nduring partisan times only.<\/p>\n
Nigeria is facing another round of political dispensation. And professional
\npoliticians and selfish leaders have thrown themselves on the field, with
\nsophisticated pranks,\u00a0 feigning artificial concern for\u00a0 the poor people.
\nBut it is nothing more than d\u00e9cor, to earn them undeserved votes from the
\nsame people they have ferociously traduced, neglected and abandoned.<\/p>\n
I was bemused infinitely at the recent outbursts by Senator (Dr) Mohammed
\nAbba Aji. While he granted audience to All Students’ Union and Forum of
\nTertiary Institutions in Borno state, led by Mohammed Bukar Ngala, Aji
\nshamelessly proclaimed that,\u00a0 \u201cThe coming of President Muhammadu Buhari,
\nwas an answered Prayer to the people of the Northeast. It is my believe
\nthat, before the end of next year,\u00a0 Boko Haram terrorists will be
\nthoroughly degraded and absolute peace restored to Borno and the Northeast.\u201d<\/p>\n
I consider this exclamation extreme limits of clowning by a supposed
\nleader, whilst mocking the plight of the people of the Northeast and
\nespecially, our hapless victims of terrorism in Borno state. Such poor
\nadmittance, only explains the extent to which Sen. Abba Aji has forgotten
\nthe travails of our people in the hands of Boko Haram insurgents, only to
\nembark on guesswork. And the latest half-hearted show of concern from Aji
\nis ennobled by his interest in the 2019 governorship seat of\u00a0 Borno state.
\nBut our people are neither surprised nor excited at his artificial display
\nof sympathy.<\/p>\n
We all know that, Sen. Aji was part of the political leadership in Borno
\nstate that brought about Boko Haram insurgency in 2003. And in the
\ndesperation to grab or retain power at all cost, they nourished insurgency
\nto despicable limits. And carelessly too, he lost track of its progression,
\nbefore he went underground for the reliefs of the administration of
\nPresident Buhari that were brought to the people.<\/p>\n
Quite ironically, the adventure which exposed us to insurgency with its
\ndevastating and humanitarian problems was to the advantage of Sen. Aji and
\nhis political goons, as he ended up representing Borno Central Senatorial
\ndistrict in the National Assembly between 2003 and 2007.
\nIt therefore, questions Aji\u2019s level of sanity and leadership uprightness,
\nto speak in a manner which lends credence to the fact that, he does not
\nknow\u00a0 that, President Buhari\u00a0 and the military have long degraded and
\ndefeated\u00a0 Boko Haram in the Northeast and Borno state in particular. It is
\ndemeaning and an unacceptable way of trying to undermine the sacrifices of
\nthe Nigerian military in quelling\u00a0 terrorism in the Northeast. It is unkind
\nand callous.<\/p>\n
Yet, I think, Sen. Aji is one of the few persons in Borno state who have
\nenjoyed the tremendous support of our people, to rise to leadership
\neminence at the national level. Apart from serving a term as Senator, Aji
\nwas a Special Adviser to former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, on
\nNational Assembly Matters. But he knows nothing about our plight and
\ntribulations because it is the least of his problems, insofar as he is safe
\nwith his family, nothing else matters, he continues to spew rubbish.<\/p>\n
For past three years, Sen. Aji disappeared into a self-inflicted political
\noblivion. He has now\u00a0 bounced back because he is angling to succeed
\nGovernor Kashim Shettima in 2019, on the platform of the APC. I feel
\nnothing is\u00a0 wrong with his decision, because everyone has the right to
\ncontest for any elective office.\u00a0 And he is welcomed. But what I deem
\nunacceptable and irresponsible, is for Aji to contemplate an open insult
\nand mockery of the plight of our people, to the extent of exploiting their
\nvulnerability to poverty and misery caused by terrorism to service his
\npolitical ambition. He detached himself from Borno State and abandoned the
\npeople to their fate for years, believing that Boko Haram which he
\nconspired with other political leaders to impose on our people, and nursed
\ninto\u00a0 \u00a0near untamable monsters could not be defeated.<\/p>\n
However, President Muhammadu Buhari and the Nigerian military, have proved
\nhim wrong and made us proud by finally decimating and defeating Boko Haram
\nterrorism. Though, the pains, the sorrows, the agonies and scars\u00a0 of
\nterrorism are still with us.<\/p>\n
And leaders like Sen. Aji should be the last to stand up today to demand
\nanother round of leadership from the people and worse still anchoring
\ncampaigns on terrorism.\u00a0 I challenge Sen. Aji to tell us what he did to end
\nthe bitter terrorism in Borno state, even when he was very close to the
\nPresidential aide in the capacity of an Adviser.<\/p>\n
Sen. Aji\u2019s verbal eruptions are unconscionable and completely in dissonance
\nwith common sense. It is strange for him to think that, we have forgotten
\nthis so soon, that he was an integral part of the clan of leaders who
\nbrought terrorism to us. They ensured that, we were rendered completely
\nprostrate before terrorists until the Buhari’s Presidency came to our
\nrescue.<\/p>\n
May I remind Sen. Aji once again, that terrorists have not\u00a0 just been
\ndegraded, but also\u00a0 defeated. What we are experiencing in the Northeast,
\nBorno inclusive is the fruitful clearance operations, to rout out remnants
\nof terrorists, conducted by the Nigerian Army.<\/p>\n
I have no doubt that Sen. Aji is now back,\u00a0 to politically benefit from the
\nprevailing peace and woes of our people in Borno state, as well as other
\nstates in the region, which were formerly under the firm grip of Boko
\nHaram. But it can only be sensible for Aji to use a new narrative to
\nhoodwink the people during campaigns, than resort to the terrorism
\nnarrative. And to sufficiently underscore his ignorance about terrorism,
\nAji does not even know\u00a0 the new song in town on terrorism. He does not know
\nthat the focus now, is how to solve the enormous humanitarian crisis
\nconfronting our people occasioned by terrorism.<\/p>\n
A sensible leader should be thinking of ways to launch and initiate schemes
\nto develop the hundreds of thousands of unemployed youths. They are the
\npeople he abandoned after series of unfulfilled promises and a failed
\nrepresentation, which only catered for his personal gains.<\/p>\n
Neglect of youths was one of the reasons that exposed them to the
\ntemptation and mercy of the recruitment machinery of terrorists, who freely
\nrecruited them for such evil and atrocious acts. He shall please himself to
\nlaunch schemes that would keep the youths meaningfully busy and\u00a0 halt any
\nfurther recruitment of the youths by insurgents.<\/p>\n
Let Sen. Aji know that he is free to wake up from his slumber at any time,
\nafter dodging his own people, when they needed him most. But he cannot use
\nBoko Haram to re-launch himself into political limelight. It\u00a0 is an old
\ngimmick and it won\u2019t work. It is distasteful and inconsistent with reality.
\nTerrorism has been defeated by President Muhammadu Buhari and it will never
\nrise again.<\/p>\n
Abba wrote from Opposite Status Hotel, Lagos Street, Maiduguri.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BY BUKAR ABBA Sometimes, I get amazed at the thinking of some politicians who feel the electorate is unreasonable, and can always be betrayed, swayed, used and dumped at their…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":62582,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-62581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\n