Terrorists Invasion Of Kaduna Airport Is An Indication That Nigeria’s Security Hasn’t Improved—Afenifere

… Describes Buhari’s Comment On Education As Hypocritical 

The pan Yoruba socio-political organization, Afenifere, has described the invasion of Kaduna airport by terrorists on Saturday as a serious indication of how bad the security situation in Nigeria has gotten.

In press release by the organisation’s National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Jare Ajayi, Afenifere lamented that what happened in Kaduna on the very day the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) was having its national congress in Abuja was a warning that some people seem to be bent on re-enacting the Afghanistan situation in Nigeria. The Yoruba organization then called on all those who believe in freedom, peaceful co-existence, personal liberty, true knowledge and progress to rise up with a view to ensuring that those who should act do so immediately.

Ajayi, in the release, itemized some security infractions that took place between Friday and Saturday in parts of the country and regretted that it was as though the country is at war – at least in those areas where the unfortunate incidents are occurring. Among the instances cited by Ajayi were the communities sacked in Kaduna, Niger and Enugu States occasioning loss of lives and burning down of properties as well as rustling of people’s possessions forcefully.

It would be recalled that terrorists allegedly numbering about 200 invaded Kaduna airport on Saturday, March 26, 2022 killing at least one person and wounded many. It also forced the delay in the taking-off of flights including the one that was about going to Lagos.

“It is a matter of serious concern that these security infractions happened at a time that government kept assuring us that it was on top of the situation. Some of these attacks by terrorists even occurred in broad daylight, that of Kaduna airport and that of Enugu for instance.”

Afenifere spokesman asserted that with terrorists having the audacity to attack a national airport despite all the available security apparatus, it means that hardly is anywhere safe any longer in the country. The federal government should immediately allow states to set up their own police forces, empower the existing security agencies and stop treating terrorists with kid gloves. These must be done immediately so that Nigeria does not go the Afghanistan way!

In the said press release, Ajayi, Afenifere publicity secretary, also recalled the assertion made by President Muhammadu Buhari at the 2022 convocation ceremony of the National Open University (NOUN) which took place in Abuja on the same Saturday, March 26th. Buhari, in a speech delivered on his behalf by the acting Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Mr. David Gende, has said that the root-cause of crises in Nigeria could be traced to ignorance.

In his words: “It is common knowledge that the root cause of the recorded crises of nationhood we experience in Nigeria is as a result of ignorance which can only be through the provision of education”.

Ajayi, while lauding Mr. President for acknowledging that challenges of nationhood that the country is facing can be traced to lack of proper education, then asked the government headed by him what it is doing about said problem.

“It is on record that the education sector suffers the most under this administration. At no time in the history of the country had education been battered as much as it is under this government. In February, the Ministers of Education and Labour, Adamu Adamu and Chris Ngige, visited President Buhari in a London hospital to wish him quick recovery. The visit occurred at a time that University lecturers were on strike. There was no report that the education crisis that was hot then and now was discussed – let alone resolved during the visit.

As at the time of writing this, the Academic Staff Union of the Universities (ASUU) are still on strike just as some other unions in the tertiary education sector are threatening to go on strike as well. No indication at all that the matter is of interest in any way to the government.

How then are we to take the President’s declaration at NOUN convocation serious?, Ajayi queried.

He concluded by calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to use the remaining 14 months he has left in office to reverse the ugly fate that has bedeviled the country in all spheres of life. He also called on state governors to be more creative in dealing with the challenges in their respective states and stop looking up to the federal government for succour – as experiences so far indicated that they would be waiting endlessly and things would be getting worse.