0:00
Presidency under the command and control
0:02
of president Bola Ahmed Tonubu has said
0:04
that if the ex-president of Nigeria
0:07
Elusigun Oasis wished to help in
0:09
addressing apparent worsening security
0:11
situations in the West Africa country,
0:14
Obisanjo must first acknowledge the past
0:16
failures that allowed terrorists to gain
0:19
a foothold and then support ongoing
0:21
efforts not undermine them. The
0:23
presidency through the office of the
0:25
special adviser to the president on
0:27
media and communications. Sunday, Dar
0:29
stated this few days ago in reactions to
0:32
the statement of Oasis that Nigerians
0:35
have rights to call on international
0:37
communities intervention if the
0:39
government can no longer protect them.
0:41
Stating that the terrorists also kill
0:43
people of other religions should not be
0:45
an excuse. This Aubberanjo said while he
0:48
was speaking at a Christmas carol event
0:50
in Joss plateau state after President
0:53
Donald Trump of the United States US had
0:56
raised alarm of what the US president
0:58
described as Christians genocide in
1:00
Nigeria and threatened to send US troops
1:03
to Nigeria if the killing of Christians
1:06
continued by the suspected Islamic
1:08
terrorists. A presidential statement
1:10
that has seen spike in the activities of
1:12
kidnapping and killings in Nigeria and
1:15
thus creating more attention to the
1:17
apparent unsafe nature of the country
1:19
which included the abduction of 25
1:22
school girls from government girls
1:24
comprehensive secondary school Maga
1:26
Kebbe the kidnapping of 38 worshippers
1:29
in Arku quara and the mass abduction of
1:32
over 300 students and teachers still in
1:35
captivity at a Catholic school in Niger
1:38
state with Daily wave of coordinated
1:40
attacks across the northern and southern
1:42
parts of the country wherein the bandits
1:44
often suspected to be fani herdsmen have
1:47
abducted moniks, worshippers, a bride,
1:50
married couples, students and travelers,
1:52
taking at least 600 people as captives
1:55
within 14 days and the rising unsafe
1:58
nature of things could have made the
2:00
Nigeria's defense minister Al-Haji
2:02
Muhammad Bedaru Abu Bakar to tend a
2:05
resignation letter on Monday while the
2:07
immediate past chief of defense staff.
2:09
General Christopher Musa has since been
2:11
appointed as the new defense minister
2:13
and the Senate has scheduled today,
2:15
Wednesday, for his screening in line
2:17
with the law and constitutional
2:19
procedures of the Africa country.
2:21
According to Oasis, no matter what
2:24
religion you belong to, no matter where
2:26
you come from, no matter what
2:28
profession, we Nigerians are being
2:30
killed and our governments seem to be
2:33
incapable of protecting us. We are part
2:36
of the world community. If our
2:38
government cannot do it, we have right
2:40
to call on the international community
2:42
to do for us what our government cannot
2:44
do for us. And for anybody to say
2:47
because those who are being killed
2:48
belong to this region, belong to this
2:50
religion, belong to this tribe and then
2:53
others too are being killed cannot be an
2:55
acceptable excuse. Before I left
2:58
government, I know we had capacity to
3:00
pick up anybody in Nigeria who commits
3:02
crime anywhere. The capacity that we
3:05
didn't have then is after we have
3:07
identified and located such a criminal.
3:09
We have no capacity to be able to pick
3:12
him up without moving on land or by air.
3:15
Now we have capacity with drones. You
3:18
can take him up. Why are we not doing
3:20
that? Why are we apologizing? Why are we
3:23
negotiating? In a statement on Sunday,
3:26
Dar warned that Oasis comments risk
3:28
distorting the security realities and
3:31
undermining public confidence. He argued
3:34
that if the former president truly
3:36
intends to contribute meaningfully, he
3:38
must first accept responsibility for
3:40
past failures. Sunday Dar in the
3:43
statement titled between Tanubu's
3:45
capability and the ignability of pseudo
3:48
statesmanship stated that the recent
3:50
comments by a former president and a few
3:52
habitual presidential aspirants
3:54
attempting to paint. The tonubu
3:57
administration unable to protect
3:59
Nigerians are not merely hypocritical
4:02
but ignoble. They ignore the hard truth
4:05
Nigeria is facing terrorists. All of
4:08
them by every definition, be they
4:10
international, regional or local. Yet
4:14
the very individuals who looked away
4:16
when these threats first sprouted now
4:18
want to sit in judgment. Nigerians know
4:21
better. The suggestion that Nigeria
4:23
should effectively subcontract its
4:25
internal security to foreign governments
4:27
is not statesmanship. It is
4:29
capitulation. Before recommending
4:32
surrender, the former president should
4:34
reflect on what he failed to do when
4:36
these terrorists first began organizing
4:38
under his watch. One, Nigeria is under
4:41
attack by terrorists. Full stop. No
4:45
euphemisms. No soft language. The people
4:48
killing Nigerians, raiding villages,
4:51
kidnapping innocents, blowing up
4:53
infrastructure, and challenging state
4:55
authority are terrorists. Whether they
4:57
fly a foreign flag or none at all,
5:00
Nigeria today confronts a multi-layered
5:02
terrorist ecosystem that includes
5:05
internationally designated terror
5:08
ISIS linked and alqaeda linked
5:10
franchises across the Sahil, local
5:13
violent extremist groups masquerading as
5:15
bandits, crossber terrorist cells
5:18
exploiting poorest frontiers,
5:20
ideological insurgents and criminal
5:22
terror hybrids operating in ungoverned
5:25
spaces. These actors collaborate. They
5:28
share money, ideology, weapons,
5:31
intelligence, and logistics. The goal is
5:34
the same, to break the Nigerian state
5:36
and subjugate its people. Let's call
5:39
them what they all are, terrorists. Two,
5:42
terrorism took root on his watch and
5:44
grew because it was not stopped. It is
5:47
historical fact that the ideological
5:50
foundations and early cells of Boohh
5:52
Haram were incubated during Oasis
5:54
civilian presidency. While they
5:57
recruited, indoctrinated, built camps,
6:00
and flaunted authority, the state failed
6:02
to act decisively. What began as a
6:05
preventable extremist sect transformed
6:07
into a violent insurgency, a crossber
6:11
terrorist franchise, a regional menace
6:14
aligned with global jihadist movements.
6:16
For the leader under whom the first
6:18
seeds of terrorism were allowed to
6:20
germinate to now issue public lectures
6:22
is not just ironic, it is reckless.
6:25
Three, Tonubu's strategy meets the
6:28
threat headon. President Tonubu is not
6:30
facing a conventional security
6:32
challenge. He is confronting terrorism
6:35
in full spectrum form both internal and
6:39
His strategy is clear. Kinetic pressure,
6:42
modernizing military capability,
6:45
intensifying intelligence-led
6:47
operations, squeezing terrorist mobility
6:49
and dismantling logistics, retaking and
6:52
holding territory, non-kinetic
6:54
dominance, restoring governance in
6:56
underserved and contested zones.
6:59
deploying economic stabilization and
7:01
community programs. Counter
7:03
radicalization and reintegration
7:05
initiatives. Building trust to deny
7:08
terrorists the human terrain they
7:09
exploit. Whole of government. Whole of
7:12
nation. Because terrorists thrive in
7:15
division. Nigeria defeats them through
7:17
unity. Sovereignty first. Nigeria will
7:20
cooperate internationally. Yes. But it
7:23
will not outsource its security or raise
7:25
a white flag because someone who once
7:28
had the chance lost his nerve. Yes,
7:31
Nigeria needs the support and
7:33
understanding of the United States and
7:35
that is already ongoing. And of course,
7:37
the collaboration of other allied
7:39
nations. The crime at hand is
7:41
transnational. Every ungoverned space
7:44
must come under scrutiny. Four, leaders
7:47
who undermine Nigeria strengthen
7:49
terrorists. When former leaders
7:51
disparage the nation's capacity, they
7:54
hand psychological victories to the very
7:56
terrorists murdering, kidnapping and
7:58
extorting Nigerians, terrorizing
8:00
Nigerians in plain language. A real
8:03
statesman offers support, not sound
8:06
bites. If Oasis wishes to help, he
8:09
should acknowledge the past failures
8:11
that allowed terrorists to gain a
8:13
foothold and then support ongoing
8:15
efforts, not undermine them. Let him put
8:18
his position and connections at
8:20
Nigeria's disposal like he has done for
8:22
other countries. Not seek to put down an
8:25
administration that is fully engaging in
8:27
many fronts. Economic turnaround
8:29
providing security and building key
8:32
infrastructure. Five. Under Tanubu,
8:35
Nigeria will defeat terrorism. President
8:38
Bola Ahmed Tonubu remains committed to
8:40
securing every inch of Nigeria by
8:43
confronting terrorists with strength,
8:45
unity, and a whole of government
8:47
strategy. Let all patriots join hands
8:50
now and not raise alarms. This
8:52
administration will not be distracted by
8:54
selective amnesia wrapped in elder
8:56
statesmanship. Nor will it allow those
8:58
who midwife Nigeria's early security
9:00
failures to rewrite history.
9:05
Bringing you the news in a more digital
