Buhari’s aide, Adesina, accuses Nigerians of not encouraging president to do more

Special Adviser to the President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, has accused Nigerians of not encouraging the President to do more in his efforts at fighting insecurity, revamping the economy, fighting corruption and taking the country out of the woods.

Adesina who made the allegations in an article on his Facebook column ‘From the Inside,’ published on Thursday, also lampooned the Nigerian media for not playing up the achievements of the President as much as they do when reporting insecurity and attacks by insurgents.

In the article entitled ‘The story that didn’t hug the headlines’, Adesina said Nigerians and the media’s negative reports have discouraged Buhari as his achievements have been underplayed, insisting that the President’s enemies are only happy when they criticise the failures of the government.

Adesina made reference to the recent elevation of the country’s rating on the Global Terrorism Index for 2022, saying that rather than giving the news the prominence it deserves, the Nigerian media relegated it to the background, but would gladly blow up story of killings by insurgents just to put the Buhari administration in a bad light.

“A story broke last week that you would think would be everywhere, topic of discussion on both traditional and new media. But not a murmur, nor a whisper. In fact, mum was the word in many quarters.

“What was the story? The Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), an international and independent, not-for-profit think-tank, released what it calls Global Terrorism Index 2022. And it had this to say about Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa.

“It is something that should hug the headlines, dominate the talk shows, go viral on social media, and be of interest to social commentators. But not a murmur, nor a whisper, as I said earlier.

“As if in a conspiracy of silence, nobody talked about the report. The media didn’t report it, and those that did, superciliously tucked it away in a place where you would need to put on the torchlight before you would see it.

“Now, just imagine that the same report had indicated that there was a spike in Boko Haram killings in Nigeria, with the carnage exceeding that of the previous year by 100 per cent. All hell would have broken loose. It would be lead headline in most publications.

“Some television stations would scroll the story in their news bar round the clock, for many days. It would be the topic of discussion on morning and evening discussion programs. We would be almost deafened by the cacophony. So-called security experts and social activists would be invited, and they would be pontificating all day.

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“President Muhammadu Buhari came our way in 2015, promising to secure the country, revive the economy, and fight corruption.

“Rather than encourage him, what some people had been engaged in is sticking a pin into the soft underbelly of the various wars. No plaudits. No bravo. No encouragement. He didn’t do this, he didn’t do that, is all they are interested in.

“And when there are strides in the battle against insecurity, their narrative remains the same. Oh, life is nasty, brutish, and short here.

“Why do we as a people show more interest in negative, rather than positive news? Bandits killed scores of vigilantes in Kebbi this week, and the news was everywhere.

“But last week, security agencies had neutralized minimum of 200 bandits in Niger State, and it was nothing to play up. It did not resonate in the media, traditional or new. Not a murmur, nor a whisper. Strange. Very strange.

“We should rather applaud the President, and our security agencies for the yeoman’s job they are doing. May God bless Baba Buhari. And our troops. Our policemen. National Security and Civil Defence Corps. Everyone that fights evil, so that the citizens can live in peace. May God bless them.

“When you exhibit loud silence about positive developments in your country, and scream blue murder when there are reversals, you are a hypocrite, a hater of your country, and a hater of all that is good. Sad, dolorous, mournful.

“Nigeria has sought peace for long, from insurgency, banditry, kidnapping, and all sorts of criminality. We will see the peace, glittering to the morning sun,” Adesina said.

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