By George Onmonya Daniel<\/p>\n
I feel a need to respond to Mr. Femi Adesina’s article titled,
\n“President Buhari focused on National Building and Unity of Nigeria,”
\npublished in the Daily Trust of 15th September, 2020.<\/p>\n
Being the spokesman to the president, Mr. Femi Adesina’s sole job is
\ndefending the president and nothing more no matter what. I understand
\nthat. It’s a tough job and right now I don’t envy him. These are not the
\nbest of times for President Muhammadu Buhari and it’s not an easy job
\ndefending the indefensible, especially at a time when perception is
\ncompletely not favorable of the president and his administration.<\/p>\n
This time most of the mordant criticism of the Buhari administration is
\ncoming from his strong base, the Core North, even from the President’s
\nhome state of Katsina. We have witnessed protests over bandits coming
\nfrom Katsina State and seen photos of protesters burning billboard with
\nthe large photo of the president.<\/p>\n
Videos have emerged on social media with different notable Islamic
\nclerics angrily criticising the president and blaming him for failing
\nthe masses, all of them noting the hunger in the land as food prices
\nskyrocket out of reach of the masses, and the insecurity problem in the
\nNorth West where bandits are on rampage killing and kidnapping people
\nfor ransome.<\/p>\n
On top all of these scathing criticism, former President Olusegun
\nObasanjo finally buried his fang into the sore by hitting on Buhari when
\nhe made a statement in Abuja recently at the consultative dialogue
\nattended by various socio-cultural groups which includes Afenifere,
\nMiddle Belt Forum, Northern Elders Forum, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, and Pan Niger
\nDelta Forum. Mr. Olusegun Obasanjo said Nigeria is slowly becoming a
\nfailed, divided state, and the poverty capital of the world. He added
\nthat he has never seen a country in such a bad state, blaming the
\ncurrent state of the country on poor management of the nation’s
\ndiversity. Prior to this Obasanjo had accused President Buhari of
\nnepotism in his appointments of people working with him in a letter.<\/p>\n
Despite Mr. Femi Adesina’s attempts to wade off former President
\nObasanjo’s statement by attacking his person and his administration,
\nnotable Nigerians have waded in supporting Obasanjo. Elder statesman,
\nPlaywrights and Nobel Laureate\u00a0 Wole Soyinka, issued a statement saying
\nthat even though he is not a fan of Obasanjo he cannot fault his
\nstatement.<\/p>\n
President Buhari is not having it easy barely a year and four months
\ninto his second term in office. He can no longer hide under the 16 years
\nunderperformance of the People Democratic Party (PDP) in power that
\nshielded him in his first four years in office. He can no longer hide
\nunder the cover of his late Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, who was his
\nshock absorber, absorbing all the criticism and taking it with
\nequanimity. Accused of misleading the president.<\/p>\n
Mr. Femi Adesina’s efforts to defend his boss is something he is paid to
\ndo, but nowadays it is becoming increasingly impossible to be
\nbelievable. With hunger in the land, killings and kidnappings now the
\nnew normal, corruption within Buhari’s people, with Magu, the
\nanti-corruption boss getting busted and removed, unemployment, and more,
\nno one in his or her right senses will take this administration
\nseriously.<\/p>\n
By George Onmonya Daniel I feel a need to respond to Mr. Femi Adesina’s article titled, “President Buhari focused on National Building and Unity of Nigeria,” published in the Daily…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":75508,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-75803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\n